Not that kind of Hero
by FallenGale
Summary: Marinette had always known she wasn't fit to be a superhero. It wasn't an issue of wanting to be one, nor believing she wasn't a good person. Rather, it had everything to do with her basic ability. That doesn't mean she won't be a hero in her own way, protecting those she loves despite just being human. AU Alya is Ladybug/ MariChat
1. I'm Not the Hero Paris Needs

Marinette had always known she wasn't fit to be a superhero. It wasn't an issue of wanting to be one, or believing she wasn't a good person. Rather, it had everything to do with her basic ability. Any time she pictured herself as a superheroine the scenario ended one of two ways, with her tripping over herself and accidentally saving the day or the villain and all of Paris laughing at her clumsiness.

Marinette took it in stride though. These were all theoretical musing anyway, nothing to hate herself over. She had other strengths, bringing almost any kind of creative musing to life. She could bake delicious cakes and cookies, put together a working outfit out of leftover scraps of fabric, and draw impressive works of art. Not to mention she believed herself to at least be a pleasant person to generally be around.

All this to say that while Marinette didn't believe herself to be superhero material, she didn't believe that to be a bad thing. She was made to create joy for others, not fight them. So when she jumped to the rescue of an older man crossing the street followed by a faceplant to the ground, she thought nothing of it.

"Thank you, miss." The old man smiled as he helped her back on her feet. Marinette smiled sheepishly, bending down to pick up some of the still whole macaroons her father had baked for her class.

"No problem, sir. Though you should probably be a little more careful when crossing the street next time." She got up and dusted her knees before hearing the school bell sound across the street. She looked back at the old man only slightly panicked.

"I've gotta go, gonna be late for class. Have a nice day!" And she was racing across the street into the school building.

In her haste, she missed the wise smile and ornate box the old man now carried as he followed her with his eyes. After some contemplation, he smiled and walked away.

At school, Marinette breathed a sigh of relief as she realized that not only was her new homeroom teacher Miss Bustier, but that she was also still taking attendance and assigning seats for the class.

"Welcome to class, Marinette. Nino could you please sit in the front row this year?" Miss Bustier called, giving Marinette a polite smile and writing down on her seating chart.

Marinette went to her usual seat, one she had been seated at for the past four years at this school, only to be stopped by another staple of her four years here.

"Dupain-Chang, how not nice to see you again. You're in my seat." Chloe Bourgeois slammed her hand on Marinette's desk, her sidekick Sabrina smirking behind her. Marinette looked up at her long time tormentor and sighed.

"But this has been my seat for four years now, Chloe?" She gripped her bag in a protective hold. Chloe huffed and flipped her blonde hair off her shoulder.

"That was before Adrien was a classmate of ours. He's sitting there and that means I'm sitting here." Marinette followed her hand as it pointed to the front row spot next to Nino. She tried to think of who this Adrien guy could be, but she had no clue why Chloe of all people would care about anyone.

"Who's Adrien?" Two scoffs answered her.

"Who's Adrien? Only the most popular fashion model and son of famous designer Gabriel Agreste, and I'm his longtime favorite childhood friend." Chloe practically preened as she spoke about this new student. "Go sit with that new girl over there. You two can be ugly together."

Marinette had certainly heard of Gabriel Agreste, he was an icon for fashion and one of her professional inspirations, but she had never heard of his son before. She also hadn't noticed the class had another new addition. She looked over to see a rather pretty girl, dark skinned with awesome red tinted hair. This girl was practically glaring at Chloe behind her glasses. The new girl stood up and marched behind Chloe, hands on her hips as she addressed her.

"Who made you in charge of the seats?" She spoke, and Marinette was almost jealous at how she didn't sound intimidated at all. Chloe was not as impressed.

"What are you going to do about it, four-eyes?"

"That's enough girls!" Miss Bustier called from behind her desk.

The new girl grabbed Marinette's hand and led her down to the front seat of the opposite side of the room, accidentally causing Marinette to trip over herself and lose another macaroon. Marinette happily smiled as she sat next to the girl and offered her half of the last macaroon.

"Wow, I wish I could handle Chloe like that." the new girl took the offered sweet and frowned.

"That's because you let her walk all over you, girl. You need to stand up for yourself like a superhero." She excitedly opened up her phone to a comic strip with a flying woman on the cover. "Majestia always says that all that is needed for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing. You just need that confidence" She smiled.

Marinette held out her cookieless hand. "I'm Marinette." The new girl shook her hand. "Alya."

"Alright students, I know you are all excited to see everyone again but we do have to learn something today." A small chuckle echoed through the class.

The first half of the day went by smoothly for Marinette. It turned out Alya was quite the personality and they both enjoyed sneaking in conversations when they could. She had already told Marinette of her dreams of being a reporter and gushed over Marinette's work trying to be a fashion designer. Marinette had a feeling they could grow to be really good friends. This was also helped by their shared, and slightly guilty, pleasure at seeing Chloe's frustration over the lack of her so-called childhood friend.

Finally the bell rang to signal gym class or study hall. Marinette immediately started babbling to Alya about the possibility of making a Majestia style coat when she heard a yell from behind them.

"Cut it out Kim or I'll…" Ivan crushed a note in his hand while holding his other up in a fist.

"Ivan, no! Cut it out" Miss Bustier called quickly moving from her desk to the two boys.

"It's Kim, I'm so gonna…"

"To the principal's office, Ivan!" The boy looked dejected down at his fist before gathering his things and leaving through the door.

Alya looked over to Marinette with a quizzical eye. "Is that normal around here?" Marinette turned back to her and shrugged.

"I wouldn't call it regular. Ivan's usually pretty quiet, but Kim's always trying to push somebody. Usually it's Alix though." She pointed to a red headed girl putting a helmet on.

"Come on, let's get to the library. I'm sure they have to have some interesting reporter… stuff?" Marinette awkwardly laughed, but Alya smiled and hooked on her backpack.

"Alright, lead the way to this reporter stuff."

The talk on the way to the library was fluid, and Marinette had never felt so excited about a new class. She had talked to her classmates before for certain, but never had this sort of comfort while being near them. Alya seemed so honest and nice, and really Marinette just wanted the day to continue like this. Then she could go home and tell her mom that everything had turned out so much better than she had hoped for.

Unfortunately, her joy was short lived as the televisions lit up with news of a literal stone monster terrorizing the city. A creature over ten feet high that broke the sidewalk as he jumped, throwing cars and benches at passersby. Fear gripped Marinette's heart as this impossible being made its way down the street, destroying everything in its rampage. She looked at Alya and gripped her arm, running through her head what they should do.

"Alya, we can hide here or we can run to my house, it isn't that far but I don't know which is saf-"

Alya cut her off with a finger to her lips. "Girl, did you hear the monster? That sounded just like Ivan! He must have somehow been transformed which means…" Alya motioned for Marinette to fill in the blanks, but Marinette was still trying to decide if the school was safer than home, or if running as fast as they could in the opposite direction was any good. Alya sighed and started digging in her bag.

"It means that we have a real live super villain on our hands. And where there's a super villain," She pulled out her phone and showed Marinette the picture of Majestia again. "There's gonna be a superhero!" Alya started rummaging through her stuff again, muttering "Batteries, check. Camera, check. Notepad, check."

Marinette did not know how Alya was not freaking out about the stone monster destroying the city right now, but she supposed that was just how awesome Alya was. She wasn't afraid of anything. But Marinette was, and as Alya ran out the door to go get the latest scoop, she could only stand there and watch.

Eventually, a security officer for the school came down and instructed all the students to return home if possible. Policemen were ushering the students into cars and driving them home. Marinette was able to run across the street to the bakery, trying her hardest not to stare at the cracks in the cement left by possibly one of her classmates turned evil stone monster.

Her mother and father hugged her tightly, everyone terrified of this new threat. Her parents rushed her upstairs to her room before coming downstairs to barricade their home as best they could. Marinette grabbed a stuffed black cat from her bed and curled up on her chair. She closed her eyes and let a few tears leak out as she internally panicked.

Monsters were not supposed to be real. They were inventions for books and stories so that people didn't always have to fight other people. This can't be happening. How could anyone fight that thing?

She opened her eyes and clutched the doll to her chest as she set the news to run on her computer. She had to know what was going on. She had to be prepared in case they evacuated the city. She also hoped she'd see sight of her new friend, hopefully safe and away from the danger.

After watching for a couple of minutes, she noticed something hidden behind her computer. A black and red ornate box just sitting there. Marinette had never seen this box before, and curiosity overtook her as she reached down and opened it.

Inside was a pair of black earrings that immediately glowed with a bright red light until before her was a little red and black creature. Marinette screamed.

"OH MY GOD IT'S A BUG, OR A MOUSE, A BUG MOUSE?" She took her stuffed cat and held it like a shield in front of her, blocking the weird creature from her view.

"Marinette, please don't be frightened. I'm here to help." Marinette's eyes widened as she peered over her stuffed cat's shoulders.

"Did you just… talk?" Her blue eyes stared at the creature floating in front of her. It seemed, pleasant? Marinette wasn't so sure, but at least for now this thing seemed to not harbor her ill will.

The creature smiled and nodded. "I'm Tikki, a kwami."

"A Kwami?"

"Yep, I'm a being that gives powers to those that have my miraculous."

"A miraculous?" Marinette put the stuffed cat back down on the bed before sitting herself. Tikki moved over to the box with earrings and brought it over to Marinette's hands.

"These earrings allow me to give someone the power of creation. You can use this to defeat Stoneheart!" Marinette lifted one of the earrings to look at in the light. "Who's Stoneheart?"

"The stone monster, or actually it's your classmate whose been akumatized into a stone monster" Tikki spoke as if that wasn't important information. Marinette paled.

"I can't fight that thing! It's a giant stone... thing!" She stared at the screen across the room, still playing footage of the monster moving through Paris. The police were surrounding it, trying to use their cars as a blockade and shooting the creature with tasers. Nothing was working, Stoneheart easily broke through the cars, caring little about the human resistance.

"That's why you use my powers and become a superhero!" Tikki exclaimed. Marinette looked back at her with fearful eyes.

"Me? A superhero? No, no, no, no…. I'm definitely not superhero material. You should get someone else." Marinette tried to hand back the box of earrings to the kwami, but Tikki just pushed back.

"You were chosen for this, Marinette! That means you absolutely can!" Tikki grabbed the earrings and started to attach them to Marinette's ears. Marinette lifted her hand to stop her, but meekly put it down again.

"You really think I can, Tikki? Do you think I can save everyone?" Marinette thought of her parents downstairs, scared and boarding up their house. She thought of her classmates at school, cowering behind bookshelves as police escorted them outside. She thought of Alya, so confident a superhero was going to show up to save her. And she thought of poor Ivan, who had just sadly walked out of the door and into some villain's trap.

"Ok Tikki. I'll give it a try." She held her hands up to her ears to feel her new earrings. "So what do I do?"

The kwami seemed to shine. "Well, you have to find the item the akuma is hiding in. Once that is destroyed, a butterfly should come out. Catch it and purify it and everything will be fine." Tikki moved Marinette to her full length mirror. "You also use your special power, Lucky Charm!"

Marinette looked oddly at Tikki. "Lucky Charm?" Tikki smiled.

"Lucky Charm is a power you use to get a lucky item. You then can see a solution to getting to the akumatized item! Afterwards, you shout "miraculous ladybug" and the lucky charm fixes all the damage the akuma caused." Tikki moved over her shoulder.

"Ok, find an item, use lucky charm, break item, catch butterfly, and then use lucky charm to fix everything?"

"Yes, but you'll only have five minutes after you use lucky charm before you will become Marinette again. And you can't share your identity with anyone!" Tikki warned. Marinette nodded at herself in the mirror, trying to psych herself up for the stupidest thing she had ever done.

"When you are ready, just say spots on."

Marinette took a deep breath.

"Spots on"

* * *

Swinging from rooftop to rooftop was both terrifying and exhilarating. The brief moments of panic between swings were outmatched by the pure joy of flying over the Parisian sky. The idea that her super weapon was a yo-yo was still strange to think of, but it certainly was a super yo-yo if it could do this. Marinette felt more confident with each swing. However, Marinette had always been more clumsy when she wasn't as careful. One accidental flick of her wrist at the wrong moment and she was careening towards the ground. Her yo-yo trailed behind her only to tie itself around a metal staff elongated across two homes.

Marinette flinched as the ground came closer, barely noticing that she was about to hit someone else. She moved her hands to block her face from the impact, and with a large slam she and her unfortunate victim collided. The yo-yo string wrapped around both of their bodies, slowing their descent before they landed on the ground.

She was quick to get up and untangle them, panicking over the fact her first act as a superhero was to probably kill a civilian with her body.

"I'm so so sorry, are you ok? Do you need a hospital? God, why am I so clumsy?" She wrapped up her yo-yo and started to look over the boy. That was when she started to actually look at him. He was a blonde haired boy, looking to be at least close to her age. The rest seemed a mystery because he was wearing a black suit, mask and cat ears not unlike the spotted suit she wore.

"No worries, nice of you to drop in." The cat boy stood and shook his hair. He glanced over at her. "You must be the partner my kwami told me about. I'm…"

He put his hand under his chin and seemed to think for a second.

"I'm Chat Noir. And you are?"

Marinette looked up at him and reached a hand out. "I'm Ma… a mess. Bit clumsy, still trying to figure this out." She gave a nervous smile.

'Well Clumsy girl, don't worry. I'm just learning the ropes as well." He shook her hand and gave her a warm smile. Marinette's cheeks began to burn a bit. Their conversation was cut by a roar and a collapsing building. Chat Noir immediately sprung into action, extending his staff to the next roof.

"Wait, where are you going?" Marinette called after him. He turned his head and gave her a playful smirk.

"I'm going to save Paris!" And with that he disappeared.

Marinette stood there for a minute psyching herself up to follow. Every time she heard the creature roar or the collapsing of some structure, she flinched. She could do this, she just had to believe in herself.

"Ok, let's go save Paris." and she swung towards the sound of mayhem, towards the stadium.

Arriving later than Chat Noir, Marinette was welcomed with the sight of him and Stoneheart already engaged in combat. Punches and strikes were exchanged, but nothing Chat Noir did seemed to phase the monster. If anything, he seemed to be growing bigger with each hit. Marinette looked over to make sure no one else was around, but spotted Alya filming under the stands.

For a moment, Marinette was relieved. She was so happy that her new friend was still safe and seemingly unharmed. But then terror overtook her as she watched Stoneheart pick up the soccer goal and throw it at the defenseless reporter. Marinette couldn't move. Her bluebell eyes followed the net hurtling towards her friend, her body shaking, eyes wide, mouth agape in a silent plea for Alya to somehow get away in time.

Lucky for both girls, Chat Noir's reflexes kicked in and he tossed his staff. It extended in front of Alya, providing a quick barrier to the goal post. Marinette sighed with relief as the net bounced harmlessly off of the staff and landed on the field. She took a deep breath and looked back a Chat Noir, watching as he jumped again at the monster; all while her body continued to shake.

"I knew it, Tikki. I'm not cut out to save anyone."

"Hey! Bug Girl! The whole world's waiting on you!" Marinette's head snapped to Alya, registering her voice. She couldn't help but wish Alya hadn't noticed her, or at least hadn't said that while holding her phone out to clearly film her. Already Marinette could feel herself panic, but looking at the field, watching Chat Noir do his best against that monster despite not even leaving a scratch, Marinette knew she had to at least try.

She readied her yo-yo and let it fly, swinging down towards Stoneheart. She landed on his shoulder and quickly somersaulted off, landing semi-gracefully next to the cat hero.

"Sorry about the wait." She sheepishly apologized, trying but probably failing in concealing her still shaking hands. Chat looked over and gave her another smirk.

"No problem, Clumsybug. Now we can give him all we got." And he moved forward to attack.

Marinette's eyes widened and she quickly grasped his tail before he could get too far. He yelped in surprise before giving a confused look back.

"I don't think attacking it is working at all. In fact, it looks like attacking it only makes him stronger." Her and Chat leaped backwards as a set of chairs from the stands were thrown in their direction.

"So what do you suppose we do?" His green eyes glanced over before returning to the battle.

Marinette looked over Stoneheart. Tikki had mentioned an item being the key. She looked over every inch of him, but it all seemed to be the same stone. Then the stone giant smacked the ground beside Chat with his right hand, open palm. A quick look at his left hand confirmed her suspicions.

"Chat! The akuma-thingy is in his left hand!" She called out before jumping away from another thrown chair. The field was now completely a mess of torn-up turf and broken stadium pieces.

The boy gave an excited grin. "Alright! Then time to test my powers! Cataclysm!" He raised his hand as a black and brown energy fizzled and swirled around it. He smiled and touched the collapsed goal behind him.

The sport equipment rusted up in less than a second before crumbling into a pile of brown dust beneath his feet. He smiled and started to run towards Stoneheart.

"Wait! Chat!" Marinette called before chasing after him.

The excited hero reached Stoneheart and with a mighty cry laid his hand upon the monster's foot. After a second of nothing, he looked up at the villain sheepishly.

"Guess I only get to do it once?" His smile faded as Stoneheart threw a punch at him. He flinched and braced for impact, when he felt the pull of a string wrapped around his waist.

He grunted as his body was pulled out of the path of its fists and landed on the fleshy body of his partner. Marinette blushed heavily at the contact before standing and pulling him up.

"You only get one chance with your power and then you only have 5 minutes till you transform back. Didn't your kwami tell you anything?" Marinette took a look at Stoneheart before returning to Chat.

"Ok, my turn right?" She felt nervous but tried to smile anyway, throwing her yo-yo above her. "Lucky Charm!" A wave of sparkling pink and red energy flowed around her and manifested into a wetsuit.

Chat Noir snorted into his hand as he failed to keep a straight face. "Sorry, just how are we supposed to beat him with that?" If he was losing confidence in her, his smile didn't show it.

"Well, we have to think…" Marinette looked around at the field, thinking hard about how to use the suit to get at the akumatized item. She backed up a bit while she examined the rubble of the stadium. Her foot caught on something behind her, and she flailed about trying to keep herself up before falling onto the ground, the wetsuit flopping on top of her head. She glared at the offending object that had tripped her up.

Her eyes widened upon the realization that she had tripped on a hose, a hose that happened to be attached to a water nozzle next to where Alya was trying to hide and film. She turned towards Chat and smiled triumphantly under the wetsuit.

"Chat, I need you to get caught!" She yelled as she jumped up and prepared the wetsuit, tying all but one hole up. The cat hero looked at her with a stupefied look on his face.

"Are you crazy?"

"Just do it!" She pushed him forward towards the stone giant and turned to attach the hose the wetsuit. Chat gave her one fleeting glance, eyes heavily conveying his lack of understanding her plan, before rushing headfirst towards Stoneheart.

Marinette watched and counted down in her head. She didn't need to time anything, but counting the seconds was keeping her mind occupied on what she needed to do rather than on how stupid this plan would be if it fails. A cry of pain from Chat echoed out as he let Stoneheart get a good grasp on him. Marinette winced and reminded herself to apologize to the boy afterwards.

She jumped forward, hugging the wetsuit and hose, as she aimed for the monsters right hand. Stoneheart reached with his clenched fist, and for a second Marinette really doubted that her plan would work. At the last second, the fist opened and caught her, but the goal had been achieved. She watched with elation as a small black crumbled up wad of paper fell to the ground. She quickly turned her head to where Alya was filming.

"Alya! The water hose!" Her friend looked up over her phone and over to her right where the hose was attached. Dropping the phone, she sprinted over and started the water flow.

Marinette could feel the wetsuit filling up beside her, and as it grew bigger the more pressure she felt on her chest. She looked up at Stoneheart, willing him to open up his fist just a little, just enough for her to squeeze through. Seemingly on her command, the monster opened up his fist and dropped the girl and the ballooned wetsuit. Marinette ran over to the black paper and stomped on it as hard as she could, almost crying in joy as a black crackled butterfly flew out of the pieces into the sky.

Behind her the stone monster started to fizzle with black energy, shrinking into the form of Ivan. He held his head in one hand, nursing a headache but otherwise unharmed. Chat also fell to the ground, landing gracefully before helping the poor boy up.

"What just happened? Where am I?" He looked around at the destroyed stadium with no recollection.

"Don't worry about it. You just got saved by Paris's two new superheroes." Chat exclaimed before walking over to Marinette. "That was awesome. Crazy awesome." Marinette was already feeling so many emotions at that moment, and his smile only added to the cacophony.

"Same goes for you, partner" She held out a fist towards him. He responded in kind.

"Pound it." Marinette couldn't help but giggle at the interaction. Unfortunately, their time was interrupted by a beeping.

"You've got to go Chat, we can't let anyone know our secret identities." The boy nodded.

"See you soon then, M'Lady." And he ran towards the end of the stadium, using his staff to reach over and disappear into the Parisian skyline.

Marinette looked over at Ivan. He had his head in his hands, muttering to himself too quiet for her to hear. She reached down at her feet and picked up the piece of paper, now returned to its original form.

You haven't even got the guts to tell Mylene you love her. Wuss.

She frowned and knelt next to the boy, carefully removing his hands from his face.

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with telling someone how you feel, but I know it can be scary." She held up the note. "This guy just doesn't know what it's like to feel the way you do." She tried to give her most reassuring smile.

"Amazing! Awesome! Inspiring! Are you going to be protecting Paris from now on? How did you get your powers? Were you bitten by a radioactive ladybug?" Alya stood about five feet away from them, filming the heroic end to Paris' first villain.

Marinette felt herself freeze up. "Oh ah, I have to run now." She started moving back, fiddling with her yo-yo.

Alya reached out her hand. "Wait! What do we call you?"

Marinette looked down at her spotted suit and smiled. "Ladybug. Ladybug is fine." With that she took her leave, sailing over the edge of the stadium and towards home.

Sailing over Paris this time was delightful. She had done it! She had saved Paris and its people from a monster she'd been afraid of. She could still see echoes of destruction from his rampage, and a little bit of her twinged with guilt. She knew she wasn't responsible for this damage, but maybe next time she could defeat the villain faster so not as many people had to suffer.

At the thought of next time, Marinette skidded to a halt arriving at her balcony. Did she want there to be a next time? Was she ready to be a superhero called upon by her city in times of distress? She still felt a little trepidatious. Sure she had beaten this monster, but what if the next one was smarter, or had stronger powers, or wielded chainsaws for hands? Marinette shook her head and released her transformation. She could think about those things if the time came, but for now she had saved Paris and deserved to treat herself.

She quietly snuck back into her bedroom. Tikki flew around her and smiled, nuzzling her cheek before hiding in her purse. Marinette blushed and smiled as well. Checking that nothing had been disturbed in her absence, she walked downstairs to the bakery to see her parents.

"Mom, Dad? Everything's ok now, right?" She called out, feigning ignorance to the situation outside.

Her mom came around the corner and hugged her tightly. "Oh yes. Turns out we now have two good people looking after us." Her father came over and joined the hug.

"Let's have some parfait to celebrate, shall we?" He smiled and started to prepare the dish in the kitchen.

Sabine led her daughter to the couch and they both just sat next to each other, Sabine clutching Marinette in a loving embrace. The news was running, with the anchor proclaiming the goodness of Ladybug and Chat Noir. The Mayor went on record, establishing festivities to celebrate the two new superheroes. Each kind word warmed Marinette's heart, and with the arrival of their sweet treat and her father settling in on her other side, Marinette could not imagine a better day.

"Just now, reports have come in that smaller Stonehearts have been appearing all over Paris. It seems people from all areas of the city have become statues in the monster's visage. No threats or damage has been done to the city or its citizens by these statues yet. We'll keep you updated on the situation as it unfolds."

Marinette's heart dropped to the bottom of her stomach. She sat up out of her mother's arms and stared at the screen in horror. She hadn't fixed anything. Now there were more of them, and more innocent people had been hurt. She needed to talk to Tikki fast.

"Um, I'm going to go upstairs and call Alya." She got up from the couch and made her way towards the stairs.

"Who's Alya, dear?" Her mother called with a worried expression.

"A new friend and classmate. I just want to make sure she's alright."

Her mother nodded and turned back to the tv, clutching Tom's hand in hers. Marinette made her way upstairs, forcing herself to keep calm and breathe. After she made sure the door into her room was locked, she opened up her purse and tears started to form in her eyes.

"What's going on? I thought we beat him?" The red kwami floated up to Marinette's face and tried to soothe the girl.

"Did you purify the akuma?" She tilted her head slightly. Marinette paled.

"Purify… the akuma?" the tears started to run down her cheeks.

"If you don't purify the akuma, it just leaves and multiplies. It then starts infecting random people until the original holder feels some negative emotion again. Then it takes control and they'll have an army!" She waved her small arms in the air with urgency.

"So I did mess up." Marinette's voice was so small, the kwami almost missed it.

"We just need to go out and find that akuma and purify it." Tikki assured, but Marinette wasn't listening. Her shoulders shook with silent sobs.

"I messed up. I knew I wasn't cut out to be a superhero. I'm clumsy, I make things worse when I try to do something I know I'm no good for. I can't be Ladybug." Marinette reached up to her ears and started to undo the earings.

"No Marinette! Only Ladybug can purify akumas. Paris needs you!" Tikki spoke, panicked.

"Then I'll find another Ladybug." And she removed her earrings.

The subsequent silence unnerved Marinette, but she held firm. She was not a superhero. She was a baker's daughter who could make cookies and dresses, not fight villains and save Paris. She sat down and let herself cry. Cry over what she had just done to Paris. Cry over her clumsy nature. Cry over that brief moment of belief she had in herself.

* * *

The next day Marinette resolved to get back to her life as a normal school girl and find someone else who seemed to fit the Ladybug job. Unfortunately, school wasn't much of a help in cheering her up. She was so excited to see Alya again, but to her dismay she had set up a whole blog dedicated to Paris' new superheroine. Marinette tried to keep up a smile, but Alya had noticed the girl's demure attitude.

"Don't be scared, girl. I've seen Ladybug in action and I know she can solve this, no problem." She winked under her glasses and started to discuss getting more content for her blog.

Marinette smiled a bit at Alya's confidence in her. She seemed fearless, and such a good person. Almost like lightning, an idea struck. Shouldn't Ladybug be a fearless, good, smart person? If Marinette could trust anyone to be a better Ladybug than her, Alya had to be a definite yes. She smiled to herself as she palmed the ornate box hidden in her purse. She just needed to find the right time to hand over the box without being seen.

Her attention changed when they walked passed a good portion of their class huddled around Ivan.

"You don't remember anything? You were pretty metal. Super cool." Juleka smiled beside him.

"Yeah, you were seriously out to crush me, dude." Kim laughed.

Marinette sighed in relief as it seemed the rest of the class hadn't decided to gang up on Ivan and instead praise him for what happened to him. Her relief was short lived.

"Once a monster, always a monster." Chloe remarked as she leaned on a nearby pillar.

Ivan glared and growled before getting up and stomping towards the lockers. Marinette's eyes flickered to every corner, waiting for a butterfly to show itself. Only after a minute of panicked searching was she able to calm down. Alya moved over in front of Chloe.

"The only monster here is you." She pointed aggressively at the posh girl, but Chloe looked back unphased.

"I'm not the one the broke Sabrina's dad's arm. Oh no, are you mad? Gonna break your panties and turn into a big muscled stone monster too?" She laughed and Sabrina giggled beside her.

Alya huffed and walked away, grabbing Marinette's hand as she led them both towards their lockers. Alya angrily stuffed her books in hers, muttering about no good rich kids. Marinette just smiled. Someone who feels this strongly over helping another classmate must certainly make a great Ladybug. She was making the right choice in giving her the miraculous.

On their way out, Marinette saw Ivan sitting on the floor, music playing through his headphones. Marinette stopped and motioned to Alya.

"I forgot something in my locker. Go ahead without me, I'll be right back." Alya nodded and made her way to the classroom alone. Once she was out of sight, Marinette turned and tapped Ivan on the shoulder. He looked up with a half glare, but removed his headphones nonetheless.

"You should really go ahead and tell Mylene about your feelings for her." Marinette suggested, as soothingly as she could. Ivan's glare deepened.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He turned his head to look away.

"Aw, come on. I see how you look at her. Just tell her how you feel." Ivan huffed sadly and Marinette started to worry, keeping an eye on the window ahead just in case. "No, no, no. Gotta stay positive. I think she feels the same for you. You just have to talk to her." She smiled in a hopefully supportive way.

Ivan seemed to crack a little and turned to face her. "But I'm no good with words." He looked down defeatedly.

"Well then don't use words. How about a picture? Or a poem? Maybe flowers?" Marinette listed off the top of her head. Ivan's face seemed to light up.

"What about a song?" He asked, and Marinette's face also lit up.

"That's a great idea! What girl wouldn't want a love song just for her?" Ivan quickly packed up his things and made to leave.

"Thanks, Marinette." He left out the door in a hurry. Marinette slowly stood up and brushed off her knees, feeling like she had at least done her part to make up for her disastrous superhero mistake.

The bell was about to ring. Marinette packed up all her supplies and made her way up the stairs towards the classroom. She spotted Alya waiting at the top, messing with her phone.

"Ready for class now, girl?" She smiled and started walking towards the classroom door. Marinette smiled and figured she should probably kind of ask permission before just handing Alya the superhero responsibility.

"Alya, would you like to be a superhero? You know, if you could?" She motioned her hand flippantly like this question wouldn't change her life forever.

"Heck yeah! I'm not scared of anything. It'd be super cool to be a hero." Alya pushed her glasses up and smirked before striking a superhero pose.

Both girls laughed and entered their classroom, but not before Marinette carefully slipped the miraculous box into Alya's bag. A wave of relief crashed over Marinette, and she was sure her stress levels would finally go down until she spotted the blonde boy placing gum on her seat.

"Hey, what are you doing?" She cried, making her way towards him. The boy seemed to instantly straighten up with a red face.

"I was just… I was trying…" He was cut off by the laughter of Chloe and Sabrina. Marinette glared and pushed him aside.

"Oh I see. Very funny you three. I'm guessing you're Chloe's friend." She bent down and placed a tissue over the gum, moving over and sitting beside the mess.

The boy had a dejected look on his face, like somehow she had harmed him, before moving into his seat next to Nino.

Class started and Miss Bustier started role call with the new boy's name. "Agreste, Adrien?"

Adrien looked confusedly around the room before Nino whispered in his ear. Then he nodded and jumped out of his seat yelling "Present". The class laughed at his antics but he seemed to take it in stride laughing along and sitting.

The door burst open and Stoneheart came crashing through calling Mylene's name. Marinette's eyes widened as she gathered her things and ran to the back of the classroom away from the stone man. Her heart stopped as she watched him pick up her classmate in a rock fist.

"Why are you doing this, Ivan?" Mylene cried out, desperately looking for a way out of his hand.

"I'm not Ivan anymore. The name is Stoneheart and I'm doing this so we can be together." His glowing yellow eyes almost softened before zeroing in on the blonde girl hiding underneath her desk.

"Daddy, the monster's back." Chloe cried into her phone before Stoneheart grabbed her in his other hand.

Both girls screamed as he turned and broke a hole in the wall, jumping out into Paris' streets.

Marinette peeked out from behind a seat, looking at the hole he had carved out in the wall with wide eyes. She searched around and saw Alya getting her phone out while the rest of the class started to run into the rest of the school building.

"Come on, girl. We've got to catch up if we're gonna see Ladybug in action!" Alya turned towards her. Marinette swallowed a lump in her throat.

"No Alya, I'm going to find a place to hide. This isn't safe." She grabbed her bag and crushed it against her chest. "I… I don't want to get hurt."

Alya smiled and came up to her, kneeling in front of her crouched friend.

"All right. I get it. It's scary and you're right that it's dangerous. If you aren't up to it, I won't make you come." She smiled kindly and picked up her bag, slinging it around her shoulder. "But I want to be there when the good guys win." She got up and made her way to the door. She took one look back at Marinette to give a salute before running out.

Marinette stared at the door. She was waiting for that rush of relief, that feeling of responsibility to leave, and she could just be a normal scared student. But the knowledge that she had given her new friend a powerful object that in all likelihood would get her hurt or worse gripped her heart. She needed to know she was safe, that she hadn't just sent her friend to an impossible task.

She quickly got up and slung her bag on her back. Taking a quick look out the hole in the wall and the city in a panic, she ran out the classroom door and out of the school following the sounds of screams and destruction. She ran as fast as she could, ducking behind cars and peering down the streets to find her friend. Her heart pounded every time she saw one of the Stoneheart clones. Every other moment she hid as best she could. Soon she could hear the familiar sounds of Chloe's whining nearby.

Around the corner she saw multiple Stonehearts fighting Chat Noir. Her heart clenched in her chest as she viewed her former partner struggling with the horde of monsters. She shook her head and hid behind a nearby garbage can, peering around to watch the fight. Her eyes widened as she noticed Alya filming from behind a nearby car. Marinette squeezed her bag strap.

"Just look once, Alya." she whispered. And then she covered her mouth with her hands as her legs kicked into gear.

A car launched by one of the Stonehearts was heading straight for Alya. Time seemed to slow as she reached out, legs pushing her forward without thinking. She was halfway across the road, heart pounding, Alya's name silently escaping her gasping lungs, she wouldn't make it she wouldn't make it SHE WOULDN'T -

She didn't notice the large chuck of road hurtling in her direction.

Marinette only saw a glint of silver and black before she felt her body lift off the ground, moving away from Alya's hiding spot. Tears filled her eyes, blinding her as she pushed against whatever force was carrying her away. Her hands tugged on leather, her legs kicked against arms, and her voice echoed in the barren streets. She felt the hold around her tighten as they moved around a corner and behind an iron fence. Having lost sight of her friend only made Marinette cry more and her cries of Alya's name became weaker as she struggled to catch her breath between sobs. She was placed on the ground gentilly.

It was only when she heard a voice that Marinette realized it had been a person that whisked her away from her friend.

"Hey, it's ok! You're friend is gonna be ok, but I need you to calm down and breathe." Marinette looked up to see a worried Chat Noir crouched in front of her with his hands on her shoulders. She started to take deep breaths, each one bringing her back to the present situation. Chat seemed to relax as her sobs ended and her breathing returned to normal.

"Good, good. I stopped the car from hurting your friend, so everything is ok. You were very brave, running to save her, but perhaps next time let's leave that to the superheroes, yeah?" He gave her a goofy smile and a wink, the absurdity of it causing Marinette to release a weak giggle. The sound caused his ears to twitch and a big sincere grin to form on his face.

"Now, purrincess, since I have saved the damsel it is time for me to save the rest of the city." He got up from his crouched position and did a deep bow to the stunned girl. "Please stay indoors for the time being. It's safer there." He gave a salute and jumped across the rooftops, on his way to face the Stonehearts again.

She couldn't tell you why, but her heart seemed to be beating twice as fast as usual.

Marinette didn't wait a moment after Chat Noir disappeared behind a building. She immediately started running towards the street Alya had been in. She forced herself to take her time, watching for other Stonehearts and making sure to be as quiet as possible. She looked around every corner before hiding behind whatever object was next on her path. Tears still streamed down her cheeks, but she had control of herself for now. She just needed to see that her friend had made it to safety.

When she reached the corner to her destination, Marinette crouched and snuck a peek. Her eyes immediately focused on the car upside down on the sidewalk. It looked completely wrecked, almost cleanly cut in two. She took in a deep breath and continued to look at the debris. Her eyes widened as they saw the demolished center of the road, the road she was running across not five minutes before. In her head, Marinette thanked Chat Noir profusely for saving her from what clearly would have been her death.

A familiar string sound caught Marinette's ears and she ducked as a joyous laughter sounded overhead. Her face broke out into a smile as she watched red and black spots soar over her from rooftop to rooftop. The relief finally set in and she couldn't help the small laughter that left her. There, swinging as though it were the most natural thing in the world, was Alya Cesaire. No, Marinette thought to herself, that's Ladybug.

She continued to swing away towards the Eiffel tower, catching up with a black figure on the way. Marinette stood up and watched as they disappeared into the distance. She couldn't help herself, her legs started moving after them without her thinking. Soon she was running, running towards the crowds that circled the police barricade. She pushed her way through the crowd, maneuvering herself to the front for a clear view. Her hand pulled her phone from her purse. She focused the camera on the two superheroes in front of her, Ladybug and Chat Noir, and she hit record.

The main Stoneheart stumbled from his perch on the Eiffel tower and wretched out a swarm of blackened butterflies. Marinette felt her body go rigid, but kept the camera in focus as the butterflies formed a face confidently smirking at the gathered crowd.

"People of Paris, listen carefully, I am Hawkmoth. Ladybug, Chat Noir, bring me your miraculous. You've done enough damage to these innocent people." The face smirked.

Ladybug started clapping and swinging her yo-yo around. "Nice try, Hawkmoth, but Chat Noir and I didn't release an army of stone monsters to attack the people of paris. You did." She took a couple of steps forward.

"We didn't endanger school children for the sake of getting someone's jewelry. You did." She launched herself up to the Eiffel Tower's base, turning to face the crowd.

"We didn't turn innocent people into monsters. You did." She jumped up and started slinging her yo-yo through the swarm.

"And we don't hide behind the people of Paris. WE FIGHT WITH THEM." The face screamed as it separated into multiple sections, each being absorbed by Ladybug's yo-yo.

With the swarm of dark butterflies gone, Ladybug turned again to face Paris. "As long as Ladybug and Chat Noir are here, we'll fight to keep you safe from Hawkmoth or whoever else wants to bring you harm. That's my promise." With a flourish she opened the yo-yo and a swirl of pure white butterflies enveloped the Eiffel tower, flying around and out toward the rest of Paris.

The crowd around Marinette cheered as the butterflies flew overhead. She continued to focus on filming Paris's two new heroes. Zooming in on Ladybug, Marinette let her smile drop for just a moment. Alya was stunning, confident, in control. She was a great superhero and a perfect Ladybug. Marinette's chest hurt for a moment before she smiled again, regaining her composure. In her head, she knew she was happier this way.

Ladybug than jumped behind Stoneheart with Chat Noir close behind. Both were doing acrobatics around the monster, scoping out a weak point to get him to open up his fist. Ladybug called for her lucky charm and from her yo-yo a parachute fell. She looked at it curiously before yelling something to Chat Noir. Both heroes nodded and lept into action. Chat handed his staff to Mylene, still inside Stonehearts' fist, and jumped back. The staff extended, forcing the fist to unclench and Mylene to start falling off the tower. Ladybug dived after her, parachute in hand.

The crowd gasped as they watch the superhero catch the falling girl and deploy the chute, descending safely. In her hand was the akumatized paper. She crushed it and caught the released butterfly, purifying it in one succinct motion. Above them, Stoneheart began to bubble and change back to Ivan. As he began to fall off the edge, Chat Noir caught his arm, pulling him up before using his staff to lower them both to the ground. The crowd cheered at the successful rescue, someone elbowing Marinette in their excitement. Marinette kept her cool and focused her camera on the celebrating superheroes. They held out their hands to fist bump, and after congratulatory smiles, Ladybug threw the parachute up into the air crying "Miraculous Ladybug!"

Around all of Paris, brilliant colors of red and pink swirled and shone, fixing all the damage Hawkmoth caused with his akuma. Every onlooker was stunned, and from the view of her camera, so too were their new heroes. Marinette stopped the recording and put her phone away before turning to make her way out of the crowd. Marinette hadn't expected there to be an even bigger villain behind all this. She thought this might be a one time deal, maybe a once in awhile situation at most. Hawkmoth's presence changed everything.

Someone was going to be after her friend. Someone who didn't seem to care about whether or not she got hurt. Marinette clenched her fist as she walked back to the bakery. She was right to give Alya the miraculous, she was clearly more suited to fighting than Marinette was. But that didn't mean Marinette couldn't keep her safe in her own way.

At that moment, with the celebration of Paris' citizen's echoing behind her, Marinette resolved to protect Alya with all she had. She'd protect her identity from prying eyes, help her juggle her superhero life and her home life, keep her spirits up when the pressure got to her. Marinette glanced back at Paris' monument.

She'd also find Hawkmoth, no matter how long, no matter the cost. She'd find him before he could hurt her friend.

Perhaps that was something even normal Marinette could do.


	2. Why Not be Friends?

"But Crowman, I love you!"

"I love you too, Alejandra, but you know we can't be together."

"I don't care about the Jester. He can torture me for the rest of my life. It will never hurt more than losing you."

"Crowman is more than just a man. He is a symbol. I can't let you get hurt for that, not like Bluejay, the boy wonder."

"No, Crowman don't do this!"

"Goodbye, Alejandra."

Marinette felt like gagging. She had thought she might learn something from the world's greatest superhero detective, but clearly no one in this show wanted to figure out the villain's identity to begin with. She leaned her head back on her chaise lounge chair, pausing the episode on Crowman's third goodbye to repeat love interest Alejandra.

"There is nothing useful in this at all!" she huffed to herself.

The girl looked at the clock on her desk, audibly groaning at the glowing reminder that it was now four am on a school day. She yawned and looked over her work on the wall above her desk. It had taken her all night, but she had fashioned her cork board into a memo wall of all things Hawkmoth. She had printed out a picture of the face shaped butterfly swarm and placed it dead center, surrounded by sheets of paper with various notes and names. It was all still a mess, and while she certainly had started her investigation into Hawkmoth's identity, it felt more daunting now than it ever had before.

Her initial thoughts had been placed on the left side of the board, a list of assumptions Marinette decided she needed. She'd spent the first hour home going back and forth between if Hawkmoth could clone himself, or if he could pre-record messages through butterflies, or if he wasn't even in Paris to begin with. She settled on believing the answers to be no, otherwise she would never be able to narrow it down. Next was to get a list of everyone in Paris. Fortunately, her parents were old fashioned enough to have this year's telephone directory that covered businesses. Everything else was up to her to figure out by hand.

She at least had started a list of people it couldn't be. If Hawkmoth had to be in costume while giving his speech, than that cleared everyone who gathered at the Eiffel Tower that day. Mr. Bourgeois, Chloe, police chief Raincomprix, Mylene, Alya, and most of the news media and police force were all cleared of suspicion. Marinette wanted to include her classmates in that list, but she had to admit to herself that she wasn't paying attention to who was present when Ivan first got akumatized. As much as she wanted to trust them, at least more than Chloe, she couldn't deny there was a chance one of them was the villain.

And with that thought, Marinette collapsed on her bed. Her body was begging for sleep, but her mind still had so much to process. How does one catch a real supervillain? How does one investigate a whole city, especially one as big as Paris? How would she know who to ask questions? How would….

Marinette fell into a restless sleep, dreams filled with the dark laughter of a faceless man.

* * *

Just walking to school had been more effort than Marinette wanted to put into today. Two hours of sleep hadn't been her best plan, but she couldn't help herself. She knew how she was about projects, and now she had one that involved the safety of Paris. She was lucky she even remembered to look at the weather forecast for the day and pack an umbrella. She shook her head and took in a deep breath. She just needed to focus on getting through the school day normally. Certainly Hawkmoth could wait a bit before his next attack.

She lost her balance at the top step to the school only to land in the open arms of Alya. Marinette looked up and sighed in relief at the familiar face. Alya beamed before swinging her around. Marinette giggled and tried to keep herself upright in the embrace.

"Girl! Did you see Ladybug yesterday! Was she awesome? Come on, tell me she was awesome." Alya looked at her like a puppy waiting for praise. The image made Marinette burst out laughing before reigning in her outburst.

"She was amazing, Alya. So courageous and cool. I never should have doubted she'd save the day." Marinette adjusted her bag and reached for her phone, trying to keep up her cover. She fumbled with the device before showing Alya the video she had recorded.

"I was lucky to be close by. I got her whole speech on video. I can send it to you for the blog if you want?" She tried to blink innocently. Alya froze up.

"Oh, the blog? Yeah…. The blog. I don't think I'll be able to continue the blog actually." She looked away, refusing to meet Marinette's gaze.

Marinette wasn't terribly surprised that she'd stop the blog considering her new identity. She felt a little sad for her friend, knowing how excited she was when she made the blog. An idea sparked in her head, quickly catching fire until a whole plan had formed in Marinette's mind.

She put on her best dejected face. "Oh, no. Why not? I thought it was something you really cared about?" Alya flinched almost imperceptibly before turning back to Marinette, nervously fiddling with her hair.

"Oh, just my parents want me to come home to help make sure my sisters are ok. They're quite small and a handful, and we wouldn't want them to disappear in an attack." She moved her hands behind her back and shrugged. "Can't run the Ladyblog if I can't get footage for it."

Marinette smiled. The trap was sprung. "Well then, how about I get the footage for you?" Alya's face scrunched up in thought.

"So you'd go out and record Ladybug's fights for me? Weren't you afraid of being anywhere near them yesterday?" Alya asked, eyebrows raised in surprise.

Marinette looked down and started fiddling with her shoe. "Well, seeing her in action yesterday was really cool. It kinda felt exhilarating to watch her fight first hand. And if it'll help you keep up the blog, I see this as a win for both of us." Marinette smirked to herself. She wasn't sure when she got this clever but now she was sure Alya couldn't say no.

It seemed Alya had come to the same conclusion. Her smile only seemed halfway forced. "Wow, that would be so great of you, girl!" She looked over her shoulder and back. "But let's keep this purely about her superheroism. I wouldn't want to accidentally out her civilian identity. Like, rude, yeah?" She looked at Marinette with pleading eyes.

Marinette's smile was genuine, and she felt her excitement for her plan fade into sympathy for her superhero friend. "Of course not. I would never expose her identity, especially not online for just anyone to see." She grabbed Alya's hand. "How about I just send the footage to you and you can choose how to handle the rest. I'm no journalist anyway. You can have complete control on how the Ladyblog portrays Ladybug." Alya's smile returned and she nodded.

"That's great, Marinette. Thanks." Marinette put on an innocent face as she messed with her friend one more time.

"Thanks for what? I'm just getting you crappy videos. It's not like I'm keeping a secret for you or anything." Alya's face paled as she gave a strained laugh.

"oh, definitely, just uh… really happy I get to continue the blog is all." She rubbed the back of her head. "Ok, well time for class. Let's go!" She started tugging Marinette towards their lockers.

Marinette smiled behind her and let herself be dragged. She probably shouldn't poke too much at her secret identity if she wanted to lay low, but she couldn't help having fun at the expense of her friend. It was the only benefit to her knowing. Behind them, the school started to erupt in mutters and whispers. Marinette took a quick look back to see what the commotion was about.

Walking through the doors was Adrien Agreste, followed closely by Chloe and Sabrina. Marinette rolled her eyes and turned back to her locker. She missed Adrien's glance at her before he sighed and moved passed, but Alya hadn't.

"Hey, looks like the model kid wants to talk to you." Marinette frowned and shoved her books in her bag.

"What could he possibly want with me now?" She grumbled, putting away her umbrella and looking back to see him nowhere in sight. "It clearly isn't important."

Alya smiled and closed her locker. "Look, all day yesterday and just now that boy keeps looking at you like a kicked puppy. Either he is playing a long-con or he might actually feel bad about the gum thing yesterday." They both started walking to their classroom. Alya kept a hand on Marinette's shoulder as they walked. "I normally wouldn't care, but with a villain that preys on negative emotions around…" She shrugged her shoulders. "Might be better to be safe than sorry."

Marinette looked up at her friend and gave an overly dramatic sigh, internally smiling at how much her Ladybug was showing. "Ugh, if I must, I will be the bigger woman and talk to the boy for the greater good." She giggled. "No point in staying mad anyway."

They both walked into the classroom, and for a second Marinette didn't want to look over at Adrien. Alya was right, any misunderstanding would likely make someone attract an akuma. That didn't change the fact Marinette didn't want to be friends with someone who listens to Chloe. As they set their bags down at their desks, Marinette finally looked over at him. She just caught his green eyes before he quickly looked back to his notebook. Chloe wasn't in her seat yet; Marinette figured this was going to be the best time to talk without her interruption.

Steeling herself, Marinette got up and stood in front of Adrien's desk waiting for him to look up. His shoulder's stiffened, but he did raise his head to look at her.

"He-Hello." He stuttered before smiling nervously. Marinette blinked at the surprising cuteness he exuded with the simple action. She could see why he was a model.

"You seemed to have something to say yesterday and I cut you off. I figured it was only fair that I let you explain yourself before placing blame." She couldn't help the softening in her voice. Alya was right. He was fairly puppy-like.

His whole demeanor perked up. "I didn't place the gum on your seat, I swear. I was trying to remove it when you both saw me. I…" He looked away and rubbed the back of his head with one hand. "This is my first time at school. I don't really know how to handle people my age. I'm not very good at it. I hope you can forgive me?"

Marinette felt her heart hurt for him.

"Nothing to forgive, because you've done nothing wrong. I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions." Marinette's face formed a genuine smile and she held out her hand. Adrien looked at the hand and back to Marinette's face before cautiously shaking it, a stunned look on his face.

"I'm Marinette. Nice to really meet you." Adrien's whole face seemed to light up.

"Adrien, and nice to finally meet you too."

Marinette spotted Chloe's hair in the windows beside the door, and she took that as her cue to get back to her seat. It was the right decision. Chloe's first words in the room was a screech of Adrikins. Marinette and Alya flinched at the noise, but laughed to themselves as Adrien carefully plied Chloe off of his arms.

Class went normally for the most part. Marinette felt her long night catch-up with her as Miss Bustier explained the origin of France, fighting her heavy eyelids. When the bell rang out, her head shot up. Looking at her notes confirmed her suspicions. If she was going to remember anything at school she would need to get more sleep.

Towards the end of the day the delicate sound of rain hitting the roof echoed in the halls. Marinette smiled, knowing for once she had been prepared. She walked out of her last class with Alya, discussing a meet-up for video-game night. She was surprised someone like Alya would like that sort of thing, but everything she learned about her friend only made her more incredible. Marinette was probably grinning like an idiot the entire way to their lockers.

She was just about to mention the possibility of baking a cake for the night when she spotted Adrien looking up at the sky with one hand out. She tilted her head in confusion. Certainly he should be heading home by now? She opened her locker and put away her books before grabbing her umbrella. She blinked twice at the object before looking back over to Adrien. Looking him over, she verified her assumption and closed her locker.

"Hey Alya, give me a second. I'll be right back." She ignored her friends questioning look and pushed her way through the small crowd of students.

She stepped up beside the blonde boy. He looked deep in thought, staring out at the grey sky. A few droplets made their way on top of his head. Marinette opened umbrella and held it over the boy. He stiffened before turning to face her with wide eyes. Marinette gave her best smile.

"You should probably get used to looking at the weather. The one day you forget, it will undoubtedly rain." The more he stared at her, the more she wanted to look anywhere else. She wasn't used to the attention.

"You said you weren't used to people your age. I can kinda get it. I didn't have any really close friends until yesterday." She took a quick glance back at Alya. "So maybe… if we both suck at making new friends, we should just try to be friends with each other?" She held out the umbrella handle to him.

Marinette's heart was beating erratically. She couldn't believe she was being so bold. She certainly had come over with the intention of lending him her umbrella, but the rest? Maybe it was the way he looked outside so forlornly. Maybe it was guilt from blaming him for Chloe's actions. Maybe…

Maybe it was the way his words had sounded too close to how she talked about herself for years.

Adrien's green eyes seemed to light up as he slowly reached for the umbrella. His hand flinched when their fingers touched, but Marinette stayed perfectly still. He grabbed the umbrella from her hand and moved the umbrella over both of them. He seemed to struggle to say something, looking for words out of his grasp. Marinette giggled and elbowed his arm playfully.

"Don't worry, you can start with 'Wow Marinette, you are so amazing. I'd love to be your friend.'" She covered her mouth to hide the smirk she knew she was displaying. Adrien's face was red, but his body seemed to relax as a similar smirk came across his face.

"Wow Marinette, you are so amazing. I guess I'm forced to accept your friendship." He replied in a lighthearted mocking tone. Both students laughed together until the honk of a car horn interrupted them.

"Oh, that's… that's for me." Adrien's smile faded and he held out the umbrella for Marinette to take. Marinette shook her head and turned to go back to Alya.

"Take it. You can return it when you see me tomorrow, right?" She waved and walked back to her locker.

Adrien watched after her for a few moments before whispering under his breath. "Wow."

Alya stood with her hands on her hips, giving Marinette a knowing look as the girl approached. Marinette dismissively waved and gathered the rest of her things before closing her locker. Alya followed suit and both girls started walking out the school. The minute it seemed they were out of earshot of the other students, Alya pounced.

"Girl, what was that about?" Marinette looked over at her friend with a raised eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" She stared straight ahead towards the bakery.

Alya had a hand on her face. "Adrien? You just walked up to him, gave him your umbrella, and suddenly he was red and you two were laughing. That didn't look like nothing." She smirked and wrapped an arm around her friend. "You crushing on him or something?"

Marinette tripped over nothing and Alya had to hold her up. "What? No, no. I just… He's just a friend." She adjusted herself and walked up to the bakery doors. "He seemed to need some of those."

Alya smirk formed into a smile and she gave Marinette a big hug. She nuzzled her face. "Marinette, you are the nicest person I've ever met." Marinette blushed heavily and playfully pushed Alya off.

"Geez, Alya, come on. I'll show you how nice I am when I beat you at Mega Strike III!"

"Oh, you're on!"

* * *

The week passed by Marinette in a blissful haze. Her school days were now filled with laughter and light, while her nights stayed peaceful. She still made theories as to how Hawkmoth's powers worked, and their possible limitations, but most of her time was spent enjoying her friendships with Alya, Adrien, and now Nino.

Adrien was a bit awkward around her, still getting used to having normal friends, but with the addition of Nino, he seemed to open up to the group. Marinette learned all about his overprotective father, his many lessons in music and languages, and the realities of being a famous model. She had to admit, the more she learned about him the more sorry she felt for him. The feeling only made her work harder at making him comfortable around them all.

Nino also became a cool friend to Marinette. He was definitely more outspoken than Adrien, happy to talk about anything he had a passion for. Marinette had never realized the full complexity of appropriately choosing music. He also had a thing for comics, skateboarding, and a newly discovered love for all things Chat Noir. Marinette enjoyed his debates with Alya over who the better superhero was most of all. Every time the topic came up, Marinette had to hide her grin.

Alya was still a super friend. Marinette felt comfortable to be herself around her. Everyday, conversation just flowed naturally. If she needed anything, Alya was always just a phone call away. Having her around made everything easier, Chloe, homework, even her frequent clumsy bouts. Her confidence had bled a little into Marinette, and Marinette felt for the first time like she could handle anything that came her way.

Marinette smiled to herself as she watched a girl run across the floor. She was babysitting Manon this weekend as a favor to her mother. Marinette was a little saddened about the timing, but agreed anyway. It might have been their first weekend since school started, but Adrien had work all weekend and Nino was also busy with his family. Besides, watching Manon could be fun in its own way.

"Marinette, I'm a bird!" Manon cried as she jumped off the top of the couch. Marinette scrambled to catch her before she hit the ground, ending up face down on the floor as the girl landed on her back.

"You're a bit heavy for a bird." Marinette grumbled into the floor.

Manon's laughter drowned out Marinette's muttering as the girl ran around the kitchen grabbing at pots and pans to add to her mess. Marinette hurriedly got back up to chase the child around the room, barely managing to grab a whisk from her.

"Manon, you can't play with those. Come back here!" Marinette sighed and grabbed more kitchen utensils from Manon.

The commotion between the two only came to a halt as a knock was heard on the door. Marinette grabbed the five year old and held her as she opened the door.

"Yes? Oh! Alya! Come in." She greeted her friend in surprise.

Alya gave Marinette a hug before walking in and closing the door behind her. She gave a glance at Manon before turning back to Marinette.

"So who is this little angel?" She waved at the girl who hid her face in Marinette's shoulder.

Marinette rolled her eyes. "This angel is Manon. I'm babysitting her as a favor to Mom." She put Manon on the couch and turned on cartoons for the girl. With Manon thoroughly engrossed in her show, Marinette turned back to Alya. "So what brings you here?"

Alya pulled out her phone and showed Marinette a photo of Adrien at a park. "Adrien's photoshoot is at the park. I figured we could go see him and cheer him on as a surprise or something." She smiled and pointed towards the door. "What do you say? We can take your little angel out to the park and have a quick visit. I'll even help watch her so you can relax a bit."

Marinette almost crumpled where she stood. Alya was a saint. "Sounds fantastic. Manon, would you like to go to the park?" Before Marinette had even finished her question, the girl was up and bouncing at the door.

Both Alya and Marinette giggled. "I'll take that as a yes. Let's go!"

The group of girls enjoyed their stroll in the sun on the way to the park, Manon riding on Marinette's shoulders. They turned a corner and Manon pulled Marinette's pigtails towards the carousel peering over the treeline. Marinette huffed in fake annoyance as they turned to enter the park, letting Manon pretend to steer her with her hair. Alya laughed at the side, taking pictures of the two acting silly.

She put down her phone when she spotted Adrien by the fountain. She motioned to Marinette to look over. Marinette smiled and put Manon down, walking towards the photoshoot. They stood a good distance back behind the photographer, smiling and waving at their friend whenever he looked their way. Adrien's eyes sparkled as he spotted them and he gave a quick wave before his photographer's reprimand called his attention.

Marinette thought the whole process was fascinating, from a fashion designer standpoint. She was engrossed in the clothes, the poses, even the strange instructions of the photographer. She could almost picture Adrien posing in an outfit she designed. He'd hold out one side of her jacket, giving a non-committal look to the camera. Maybe he'd pose in a hat, tilting the rim over his eyes mysteriously. Each item of clothing she imagined sucked her deeper and deeper into her musings.

Alya elbowed her out of her daydreams and laughed at her resulting jump. Marinette blushed heavily before a tug on her pants brought her attention back. She looked at Manon and saw big doll eyes staring back. Marinette gulped.

"I want a Mireille Balloon, please?" she pleaded, eyes only getting bigger as Marinette hesitated.

She glanced at Adrien again, still busy focusing on his job. He didn't look like he was getting a break soon.

"Ok, let's get one balloon. Maybe we can even get a ride on the carousel?" She picked the child up and held her against her hip.

Manon cheered as Marinette carried her to the balloon vendor. She rolled her eyes at the excited child's attempt to grab a balloon from her perch. Marinette pulled out a euro to hand to the kind man, exchanging it for a balloon string. She smiled and put Manon down, handing the balloon string to the jumping kid.

Manon started to run with the balloon in tow, laughing and playing loudly. Marinette giggled at the girl's antics and started to chase her. Both girls ran around the park without a care in the world except to the game they engaged in. Alya stood against the fence, recording the interaction with a content face.

Marinette stopped their game when she saw Adrien approach. She grabbed Manon and settled her down for a moment. She faced Adrien with a guilty smile.

"I'm sorry. Are we being too loud? We can go if we're bothering you." A flash of panic crossed Adrien's face.

"Oh no! You're not bothering me at all. I thought you two were actually being quite cute." a light dust of pink rested on his cheeks. "I actually came over because my photographer thought it might be good for a girl to join the shoot. I was thinking maybe you would like to try it?" his eyes seemed to look anywhere than directly at her.

Marinette looked down at Manon and then to Alya. Her friend nodded sympathetically and started to put her phone away. Marinette turned back to the nervous boy.

"As long as Alya is ok watching Manon, I'm happy to help in your photoshoot." She grabbed Manon and her balloon, preparing to hand her off to Alya.

She never got to. The sky spontaneously filled with dark angry clouds and rained down a heavy hail. Marinette thought quick on her feet, moving Manon under the carousel to prevent the girl from being pelted. She looked out to motion her friends to join her, when the winds carried a cackling girl over the park.

It didn't take more than one look for Marinette to recognize the girl was akumatized. Her hair had spiraled into drill like points, her umbrella glowed at the tip, and her eyes were surrounded by a dark mask. She waved her umbrella around herself, causing a wind that launched all the Mireille balloons into the sky to be struck down by lightning.

Manon screamed and Marinette clutched the girl to her chest, trying to shield her from the heavy winds. The akumatized girl's eyes honed in on the sound. She spotted the balloon still in Manon's hand and raised her umbrella once more. Marinette's eyes widened. She grabbed the string from Manon's hand and released the balloon. The umbrella unleashed a beam of ice, bursting the balloon and hitting the carousel. Before Marinette could blink, the entire ride had been encased in a dome of ice.

Her heart kicked into overdrive as Marinette panicked. She ran to the ice wall and pounded it with her hands, hoping it was thin enough for her to break. After a couple attempts, it was made clear that the only thing that would break at this rate was her hands. She rubbed them to bring back some heat before turning to Manon. The little girl was already shivering.

Marinette sighed and took off her jacket. It wasn't terribly warm, but it had to be warmer than the t-shirt and overalls that Manon was wearing. She hugged the small girl in her coat and cradled her to her chest. She couldn't believe Hawkmoth's timing. Just when she had felt a little bit normal, he had to make a return.

A crack against the ice broke her out of her musings. Marinette's head whipped towards the sound. A string was wrapped around the wall, tugging slightly before slipping upwards on the ice. The crack echoed again, but Marinette could see it was from a staff connecting with the ice only to bounce off. She smiled and uncurled from around Manon, making her way to the wall. Through the blue tint, she could see Ladybug and Chat Noir debating. Seeing her on the other side of the ice, Chat Noir's ears perked up and Ladybug ran over.

"Hey! Don't worry, we're working on getting you out of here. It seems we can't break this just yet." Ladybug looked at her solemnly.

Marinette took a moment to marvel at her friends' super alter ego. The spots suited her. Chat looked rather agitated, then his eyes lit up.

"What if I just use cata-"

"No!" Marinette's interruption startled both the heroes. She covered her mouth quickly before stuttering a reply.

"I just- I mean- You can only use it once right? I saw it on the ladyblog. You should save that for fighting the villain." She tried to give her most reassuring smile. "We'll be ok until you guys beat her. Maybe just a little cold."

Ladybug nodded while Chat looked distracted. They both stood up, ready to leave. Marinette quickly remembered she hadn't been alone before the attack.

"Are Alya and Adrien ok? They're my friends. They were here when the villain attacked." Marinette mentally high-fived herself for remembering to include Alya's name despite the fact she was right here in front of her.

Ladybug looked happy for a moment before her professional face returned.

"Both your friends are safe, and you'll be out of there soon." Ladybug promised. Marinette believed her.

She pulled out her yo-yo and swung away. Chat Noir hesitated for a second, tail thrashing behind him. He gave her a salute before he too left to save Paris.

Marinette moved back to Manon with both fear and anger boiling in her stomach. She was terrified of being trapped in ice for any period of time. She trusted Alya, she really did, but that did nothing to stop the instinctual need for an exit. Her anger was because she couldn't use this opportunity to gather more information on Hawkmoth. It frustrated her to no end that she was stuck here unable to see if the new akuma would give a hint as to Hawkmoth's full powers or identity.

Manon's whimpering soon eased her out of both emotions, replacing them with a need to protect. The poor girl was cold and scared. Marinette huddled closer to her for warmth and began telling stories. Some were stories that she heard from her mother, some were stories she made up herself. For what felt like hours, Marinette tried to take the girl anywhere but here. Her stories ended when a siren approached, stopping just outside the ice.

Marinette smiled at Manon and pointed to the shining red lights outside. "Look Manon, we're about to be rescued!" Manon smiled weakly, her energy sapped by the cold.

The Paris firefighters spent a half hour chipping away at the ice before they broke through. As soon as the hole was big enough, Marinette passed Manon through to be seen by paramedics. The firefighters passed a blanket through to keep her warm as they expanded the opening. Soon enough, Marinette was free of the ice dome as well.

The weather had returned to clear sunny skies, a wave of red and pink energy clearing the park of ice and snow. Marinette took that as indication Ladybug and Chat Noir had won against the weather girl. When she saw Alya running up to her, she knew she was right. Alya almost jumped into a hug with Marinette, nearly spilling the hot cocoa a nice firefighter had given to her to warm her insides. Marinette gave a short laugh and hugged her friend back.

"Oh my god, are you alright? I saw you blasted by the ice but then Ladybug told me to run and-" Alya took a deep breath before looking Marinette in the eyes, only the slightest hint of wetness betraying how much she wanted to cry. "I promise I didn't want to leave you."

Marinette's heart warmed, and she knew it wasn't the cocoa. "Don't worry, Alya. I know you didn't ditch me." She put her cup down and patted Alya on the head, earning her a playful glare. "Besides, what could you do about a giant block of ice? I think running was for the best."

Alya seemed to finally relax under the comfort of her friend. Marinette glanced over at the firefighters and paramedics occupied with checking everyone out for injuries. She leaned into Alya and whispered.

"So did you see the villain this time? Were they also connected to Hawkmoth?" She gave Alya time to process her questions. She figured she was probably trying to figure out how much to divulge.

"So I heard it was a girl named Aurore Beaureal. Seems when she lost some TV competition to be weather girl, she got hit by Hawkmoth. Became an akuma called Stormy Weather." Alya pulled up a picture on her phone taken by a random citizen.

Marinette flinched at Alya's slip and took a sip of her cocoa. "Is akuma what we're calling them now?" Alya paled.

"Oh yeah, just a word I came up with." Her eyes darted anywhere but at Marinette. "Seemed stupid to call them all villains when most are just people who got mad. Figured it might separate them from the real villain here." She turned towards Marinette, proud.

Marinette was also proud. That was quite the lie for someone who accidentally let slip the name of a thing civilians only knew as a dark butterfly. She left her blanket in the back of the paramedic car and found Manon with her mother, much more energetic than when she last saw her. She smiled at Mrs. Chamack and waved. The mother waved back while she was discussing something with a paramedic, gesturing to her phone with a wink before returning to her conversation. Marinette knew that meant she'd be getting a call later, but Mrs. Chamack's relieved smile assured her it probably wasn't a reprimand.

Marinette took a deep warm breath before she and Alya headed to the bakery for some must needed rest.

* * *

When Alya left for her house, Marinette started her work. She pulled up all news coverage and any articles about Stormy Weather. Aurore had already been added to her list of confirmed innocents, but she knew that she could expand the list easily by adding those that were sighted at the time of her change. She combed the weather girl announcement video, watching the crowd the moment Stormy Weather bursted into the studio.

She knew who some of the people were, like Alec Cataldi and Nadja Chamack, but the audience was a sea of faces from Paris. Marinette sighed and got out a separate document on her computer. She glared at the screen as she cut every face out individually at the highest possible quality, making a pseudo-collage of faces she didn't know. Each face she cut out lowered her hopes for finding Hawkmoth any time soon.

Finally as midnight struck, Marinette had finished compiling around one hundred and twenty individual faces that could be presumed innocent of being a butterfly maniac. She shut down her computer and put away her theory board. Looking behind her desk, she frowned at the lack of hiding space for her work. Clearly, she couldn't have a friend over and snooping around her room if this was just lying there. She stood in the center of her room and thought.

Her eyes caught sight of the flooring beneath her bed. Her bed was elevated above her desk, and the flooring keeping it up happened to be visible on one side, covered by a sheet of painted wood. She walked over and grabbed her computer chair, using it as a stepping stool to reach the wood. The wood was solid, but thin. Marinette tapped the wood above and listened in. The reverberating sound of her knock greeted her.

She carefully crawled off her chair and set it back, grabbing her sketchbook before making her way into bed. Her thoughts were filled with the same fervor of creativity that overcame her when she had thought of a new hat or dress design. With some sketches and some occasional measurements, Marinette put away her sketchbook, content with her next steps. She went to bed with a smile on her face.

Over the next few days, Marinette would silently borrow some of her father's tools. Every hour that she knew she was alone was dedicated to fashioning that small space into the perfect hiding place. She researched different methods of hiding the opening, different ways to unlock something from a distance, and different ways of making these things with items she could reasonably get her hands on. She settled for making the wood panel lower on a hinge when a knot was untied.

After a week of work, her secret compartment was finished. Her room looked no different from when she started, but now when she wished to view her Hawkmoth theory board she just had to reach into a hole in the flooring she made next to her bed. She'd untie the thick thread from the hook she installed and the line would slack. The slack line would then allow the weight of the loose wood panel to fall over, opening the side so she could retrieve whatever she had stored. Marinette couldn't help but feel proud of herself for figuring this out. If only Hawkmoth's identity was this easy to work out.

During this time no more akumas had attacked Paris, but that hadn't stopped Marinette's work. In between a bare minimum of sleep and working on her secret compartment, she had also started looking up the faces on her crowd document. Using Google's reverse image search and various social media accounts, Marinette tried to put names to faces. Most days nothing came up and she just had to leave the face as question marks. Some days she was lucky and someone popped up in her search results. No matter which day it was though, Marinette felt she was merely occupying herself until the next time they struck.

School was taking a hit with every late night though. She had been barely making it to class on time, but it seemed her meager luck had finally run out. She snuck into her seat beside Alya, trying her best not to alert Miss Bustier of her presence. Alya gave her a raised eyebrow, but otherwise just pushed her notes over for Marinette to copy. Marinette slid her a cookie from her lunch bag as thanks.

The class seemed to go on forever before the bell rang to release the students to lunch. Marinette sighed in relief as her sleep addled brain rebelled at focusing on math any longer. Alya shuffled in her bag before pulling out a nicely wrapped gift. Marinette looked at it quizzically.

"What's the gift for?" She whispered, looking around for any hints in the classroom. Alya stared at her.

"You didn't forget, did you?" Marinette started to feel a wave of dread overcome her.

"It isn't."

"Oh girl, it totally is."

Marinette jumped out of her seat and started to pack her bag in haste. What kind of a friend was she? She forgot the most important day of the week, the only day that deserved any mention. She forgot the birthday of her friend, Adrien Agreste.

Thanking Alya for the reminder, Marinette ran out of the classroom towards the bakery post haste. She wasn't really focusing on any of the other students as she ran down the steps and towards the bakery. It was days like this that she was thankful she lived so close.

Marinette was also relieved to see that she had in fact finished the gift she had planned for her friend. Knitting a scarf wasn't the hardest thing to do, but it was time consuming. Luckley she had enough practice to multitask knitting while she watched footage of the two akumas for any clues. While her Hawkmoth research hadn't really gone anywhere, the scarf turned out pretty awesome. She spent the next few minutes finding a nice box to set it in and wrapping it to look nice. Satisfied with her work, she grabbed a croissant to munch on as she headed back towards school.

On the steps, she saw Adrien talking with Nino. She waved excitedly at her two friends and moved over to stand with them. She was almost there when a yellow body pushed her out of the way to take her place.

"Adrikins! Happy Birthday! Did you get my present? Tell me, did you love it?" She emphasized the love part. For his part, Adrien only looked half as bothered as Marinette felt he should be.

"No, I didn't receive anything, Chlo." He smiled as he pulled her away.

Chloe sputtered for a few moments before complaining about the lazy delivery system and marching away. Marinette stood in silence as she watched the fuming girl leave. Taking a second to remember why she was here, she took the free spot next to Adrien.

"Hey." She waved and both boys smiled and waved back. "So what's the plan for tonight?"

Adrien's shoulders fell as his gaze hit the floor. "Father doesn't think it would be good for me to have a birthday party. Instead, I have a photoshoot."

Almost summoned by the boy, a silver car pulled up and honked at the students. Adrien sighed and gave a melancholic smile.

"Thanks guys, but my father is the most stubborn man I know. See you tomorrow." He waved as he set down the stairs towards the car.

Marinette's heart broke for him, and her guilt at forgetting the date crippled her. She fumbled with the gift in her bag and held it out. She looked to Nino, a silent question in her eyes. Nino smiled and gave her a one armed hug.

"Don't worry Marinette, I'm going to talk to his dad right now. I'll make him celebrate his son's birthday no matter what." He winked before lowering his skateboard and rolling towards the Agreste estate.

Marinette stood there for a moment before turning back to the school. She figured Alya would want to know the situation. She walked up to the cafeteria and saw her friend munching on a sandwich while scrolling through her phone. Marinette waved before sitting down across from her friend.

"So, kind of change in plans." She placed her gift on the table and pulled out her lunch bag. "Adrien's father won't allow a birthday party. Nino's on his way over to convince him otherwise, but…" Marinette shrugged as she took a bite out of her chicken wrap.

Alya looked over her phone and sighed. "Darn. Sunshine's dad is such a downer."

Marinette laughed. "Sunshine?" Alya smirked.

"Obviously. The boy has the literal brightest blonde hair I've ever seen and acts like everything we do is the most exciting thing he's ever done. Sounds like sunshine to me."

Marinette opened her mouth to respond but was interrupted by an unwanted booming voice.

"Hello Students! It seems school will have to be postponed as all teachers are currently out of commission. As such, you all have plenty of time to join the coolest party in town for my great friend Adrien."

Both Marinette and Alya stood up and faced the new arrival, slowly backing up as he moved towards the center of the room. It was a red and blue akumatized boy wielding a large bubble wand. Marinette's fashion sense was highly offended at the look of this particular akuma, but she thought perhaps he would not be receptive to such criticism.

The new villain scoped out the room, herding together the students into a singular group. Marinette's thoughts sped past, barely giving her time to process her actions. When he was distracted with one of the other students, Marinette shoved Alya under the table. She grabbed Alya's half-eaten sandwich and walked towards the other students. The villain gave one last glance over to the far side of the cafeteria, making a last minute check.

"Uh...I have a gift for Adrien. Should I bring that to his party?" Marinette called out in a distressed voice.

Her eyes caught Alya's under the table. She quickly looked up at the villain again.

"I...uh...didn't want to ruin it if it was like an embarrassing time to give gifts… you know? Mr….?" She struggled to find a continuation of this topic, but it seemed to at least hold his attention. The whole class moved towards the door as he shepherded them.

"I'm the Bubbler and yeah, gifts for Adrien would be more than cool." They all left the school and Marinette let out a small sigh of relief. "See, we kids are the only ones who know how to really celebrate! Adults like Adrien's dad just can't understand."

Marinette's eyes widened as she realized who was akumatized next to her. She glanced at him occasionally. Her mind raced with questions she was dying to ask. Can he hear Hawkmoth? Does he know where they are? Was he in control at all? She held herself back though, slowly pulling out her phone to record the Bubbler's actions. She didn't know if Hawkmoth heard or saw whatever their akumatized did. She couldn't reveal her curiosity in their identity if she wanted to keep her involvement a secret. She'd have to remember to question Nino after they all got saved.

The class entered the Agreste estate and for a second Marinette forgot they were under duress. It was huge, towering the students and the nearby buildings. It was beautiful as well, but Marinette had expected no less from Paris' most exclusive designer. In the front courtyard, a basic party had been set up with food and a dance floor. The Bubbler took his place at the DJ table and started playing a record. When no one started dancing, his face molded into that of pure rage.

"Everyone dance, or else you'll end up like all the other party crashers." He pointed his bubble wand towards the sky. The green bubbles containing the adults were barely visible at their height.

The students gasped and began dancing lacklusterly. Marinette moved to the food table and picked up a mini cupcake. She watched the Bubbler intently for a moment where he was distracted. When his back was turned, she darted inside the large mansion. With the door closed behind her, she took a deep breath. Ladybug should be here any moment now, no need for her to worry.

She glanced around the mansion for a second. Her inner fashion lover wanted her to explore the Agreste home thoroughly. She would never get a chance like this ever again! But she looked over at a painting of Adrien and his father, standing bored but at attention over the center staircase, and she knew she'd never be able to break her friends trust. The idea of sneaking into her friends house, potentially seeing something he wasn't ready to share, left almost as quickly as it arrived. She did, however, see a desk with a notepad next to it. She shrugged and grabbed her gift from her bag and placed it on the desk. She wrote him a quick birthday note on the notepad before ripping the paper, folding it under one of the ribbons.

She took one more glance at the estate before exiting the door to once more join the party. She tried to keep her camera trained on the Bubbler, taking quick video clips whenever she could get some unnoticed. The doors above opened again, but this time the boy of the hour came out with a big smile on his face. Marinette kept a nervous smile as he joined the group. The music kicked up and everyone resumed dancing unenthusiastically. Marinette's eyes focused on her friend in the middle of the group. She made her move.

"Hey Adrien." She stood next to him, trying to keep her body under some semblance of movement. "Are you ok?"

He gave a bright smile while dancing. "Yeah. First time I've ever been to a party."

Marinette's smile faltered for a second. "Adrien, this isn't a real party. Nino's been akumatized." She whispered, trying to turn her body away from the Bubbler's view. "We just have to be careful until Ladybug gets here."

Adrien's face fell a little before a sudden song change took everyone's attention.

"It's time for the sloooooow dance. Get yourself a partner and get real close." the Bubbler called from his platform.

Marinette saw everyone pair together with the nearest person and start slow dancing. She also saw Chloe marching over to their dancing spot. She sighed heavily before grabbing Adrien's hands and placing them on her waist, moving her hands to his shoulders. After a second of shock from the now blushing boy, they began to sway to the music. Chloe reached to tear Marinette away, but a threatening cough and glare from their DJ caused her to fume and stomp off towards the food.

Marinette smirked in satisfaction to herself before remembering their situation. "Ok, so we just have to play along until Ladybug gets here. Once she engages the Bubbler in combat, we should be able to safely make it into the mansion." She analyzed the rest of the courtyard. "There are also a lot of good places to hide with cover out here. Should be easy for everyone to hide as a second option." She looked back at Adrien to see his eyes wide and staring. "What?"

He shook his head. "Nothing, you're just thinking about everyone when you're in as much danger as they are."

Marinette's head tilted to the side. "Is that a problem?" He gave out a small laugh.

"No. Not a problem at all."

She looked over at everyone else dancing, looking so defeated in their motions. "Ok. Follow my lead and tell everyone the plan discreetly." Adrien looked at her quizzically before she twirled and pushed away from him.

She let herself move between Alix and Kim, carefully pushing them apart. Alix looked at her in anger before she saw Marinette wink. She whispered the plan in her ear before continuing to dance with Kim. Alix smirked before copying the move with Nathaniel and Rose. Marinette glanced over to see Adrien dancing with Juleka, his lips moving near her ear. Soon all the students were switching and dancing with new partners, spreading the plan to all in attendance without alerting the akuma.

A yo-yo swung out and wrapped around the DJ platform and broke down the sign. The class cheered as the heroine in red landed in front of them, glaring at the Bubbler. The villain didn't hesitate and began waving around his bubble wand. The students took that as their cue and everyone ran away from the fight. Marinette watched as the students hid behind pillars, statues, or inside the mansion. She dove behind a nearby stone fence before pulling her phone out to record the fight.

Ladybug and the Bubbler exchanged blows, each jumping and moving almost too fast for Marinette to keep up with. She smiled behind her phone. Her friend looked so cool pushing back the Bubbler. With a kick in the akuma's back, Chat Noir announced his arrival as well. Both heroes started working in sync, exchanging quips while blocking the Bubbler's blows. Marinette peered over the fence to get a better shot. It seemed the heroes had the Bubbler pinned.

Of course that was the moment he pulled out a new move. He snapped his fingers and the bubbles swirled around Ladybug and Chat Noir before collapsing in, trapping the two in a green bubble. Marinette's eyes widened as the villain flung the heroes into the sky, only to stop and clutch his head afterwards. She focused the camera on him, watching a pink outline of a jagged butterfly appear on his face. He seemed to say something under his breath before the outline left and he stood back up.

Marinette watched the rest of the fight in a blur. Somehow Chat Noir and Ladybug fell from the sky and landed near the Bubbler again. Together they pulled away his wand and broke it, catching and purifying the akuma. Nino came back to his senses and apologized to the rest of the class for whatever it was he did. Alya thanked her for saving her, and somehow Adrien had thought her present was from his father. To be honest, Marinette wasn't paying too much attention the next couple hours.

She had her first lead.


	3. I am not thinking about his abs!

The first thing Marinette did when she got home was texted Nino. She couldn't help her shaking hands as she typed, erased, and rewrote her message over and over again. Her fingers tapped quickly on her phone, but her mind was running faster. Finally, a person she could ask weird akuma related questions without raising suspicion! She winced at her own thoughts, her fingers paused on her phone.

"Nino's your friend, Marinette. You can't just view him as a helpful akuma." She walked up the stairs to her bed. Moving the blankets to uncover her secret latch, Marinette reached a hand down and untied her secret knot. She moved over to her secret compartment and grabbed her notebook from inside.

"He probably feels awful after being akumatized. I should at least try to have some tact." Marinette muttered to herself.

She opened the notebook to her page on Hawkmoth's powers, a fairly blank page comprised of two sentences.

_Has the power to turn people into super villains (using negative emotions?). Also controls and talks through butterflies?_

She grabbed a pen off her desk and added her new findings.

_Can communicate with villians. When doing so a pink outline of a butterfly appears on villain's face. Confirms Hawkmoth must still be transformed while villain is functioning? _

Marinette tapped her nose with her pen as she thought deeply about what this new information meant. She was almost one hundred percent positive that the communication from Hawkmoth meant they had to be in their superhero form while the villains were active. She was relying on her brief and probably flawed understanding of miraculouses to come to this conclusion though. The only way she could be more sure is if Nino was able to answer any of her questions.

She looked back at her phone at the unfinished message she had started. Marinette took a deep breath before writing. Rereading her words, she hit send and waited.

_M: Hey Nino! You ok? Today must have been weird for you?_

A few moments passed before she received a response.

_N: Yeah, I'm doing ok now, dudette._

_M: What was it like having super powers?_

_N: I'm not sure. I don't really remember that part._

_M: Do you remember when you turned?_

_N: Nope, I was at the Agreste Mansion after talking to Adrien's dad and then suddenly it's an hour later and it looks like the worst party went down._

_M: You don't even have a feeling left over from it? Or remember anything to do with that Hawkmoth person? _

_N: I'm really sorry Mari, but I don't remember anything. You and our classmates know more about what went down than I do. _

Marinette glared at her screen, holding back an expletive. Logically, she knew Nino was just answering honestly and couldn't make himself remember talking to Hawkmoth. However, her disappointment and frustration were overwhelming. She flopped on her bed and punched a pillow.

_M: That's ok. I was just curious. Glad you're doing ok. See you at school tomorrow. _

Marinette stared at her ceiling. Technically, she could confirm that Ivan was not lying and victims did lose their memory after returning to normal. She desperately wished that wasn't the case. How nice it would have been to know Hawkmoth's gender, or age, or if they had a lisp, or something!

She did smile a little as the days events had confirmed that Hawkmoth wasn't a student in their class. The more akumas showed up, the more Marinette was convinced it couldn't be a student or anyone younger. She didn't have any proof, other than the timing of these akumas, so she couldn't definitively say. She made a note to herself to keep track of the time of day each akuma attacked. Perhaps that could give her a clue?

She put down her final notes for the night in her notebook before stashing it away. Once she was satisfied that everything was put away properly, she sat at her desk and pulled out her homework. Hawkmoth may be impossible to figure out, but Ancient Egypt was something she could Google.

* * *

The next week of school was fairly calm. No villains plagued Paris' streets, and Chloe was being only a minor nuisance. Marinette walked with Alya back home, talking about an upcoming fashion competition the school was holding at the end of the week.

"What do you think the topic will be? Hopefully it's something I already have a design for. I'd hate for it to be something I've never made. Alya?" Hearing no reply from her friend, Marinette waved her hand in front of Alya's face. The redhead blinked rapidly behind her glasses before facing her with a guilty smile.

"Sorry, girl. I was deep in thought. But totally, yeah, you should enter the contest." Marinette rolled her eyes.

"I already decided I'm going to enter. The winner gets their design featured in a fashion magazine with Gabriel Agreste's name! That would kick-start my entire career as a designer!" Marinette got a faraway look in her eyes.

"Unless as I try to show off my item, I trip on it and fall, then I hit Mr. Agreste and he gets a black eye and he hates me and he tells all his contacts in fashion to never have anything to do with me and I never get to even try to work in the industry and become a laughing stock as I work at Carrefour for the rest of my life!"

Alya chuckled and playfully hit Marinette on the top of her head. "Don't worry, I highly doubt that is going to happen."

Marinette glared at her friend before realizing they had made it in front of the bakery. She looked over to her friend and motioned inside. "Do you want to hang out a bit before you head home?"

Alya gave an awkward smile before shaking her head no. "Nah, I've got to really hit this homework tonight. I'll see you tomorrow!" She waved goodbye and ran off in a direction Marinette was one hundred percent sure didn't lead to her house.

Marinette's eyes narrowed. Alya taking a long way to her house wasn't too much of a red flag alone, but they didn't have any homework due to having a test tomorrow. If Alya was flustered and clumsy with her lie it could only mean one thing. Marinette ran upstairs to put away her school books before running after Alya.

Marinette's first thought was another akuma attack, but Alya had been with her almost the entire day. Unless she had developed some akuma sensing powers Marinette didn't know about, there was no way she was aware of one. But what other Ladybug business could Alya have outside of fighting villains?

She caught up with her friend quickly. Watching Alya maneuver through the city and following her was easy, though Marinette was relieved she was taking a straightforward route. Curiosity was eating away at her slowly with each passing minute. Alya stayed on public roads so Marinette was sure this wasn't something super secret. A few more minutes of walking, and it became very obvious where she was heading.

"Why would Alya lie about going to the Louvre?" Marinette whispered to herself as Alya approached the pyramid shaped museum.

Alya moved to turn around and Marinette quickly dived behind a tourist directory. She pulled out her phone and watched Alya in the reflection. The girl was looking over her shoulders carefully before turning to her bag. She seemed to talk into it for a second before resuming her walk into the museum. Marinette's thoughts took a second to filter through what Alya could possibly want to talk to her bag about before she remembered Tikki.

Her chest felt a dull ache at the thought of the red kwami. Marinette had only known her briefly, but she had seemed to be a sweet creature that tried to believe in her. The name still brought along feelings of guilt, and failure, and disappointment. Marinette took in a deep breath and tried to forget those feelings. Tikki obviously hadn't told Alya about Marinette's involvement with the miraculouses. She must at least trust her. Marinette couldn't help the small smile that gave her.

She turned, ready to follow Alya into the museum, when a giant familiar face greeted her. Marinette jumped into the air and scrambled backwards in surprise, only for the fear and shock to melt into embarrassed amusement as she recognized the face as an Adrien Agreste ad.

"Well hello to you too, Adrien." She giggled to herself, peering around the directory to make sure Alya wasn't looking her way.

Seeing Alya disappear into the doors of the Louvre, Marinette followed. Inside, Marinette had to make sure to keep her focus on Alya. The Louvre wasn't a hugely famous museum for nothing. The walls displayed some of the most famous works in all of human history, but Marinette had to figure out why Alya would need to visit now. Maneuvering through the crowds of tourists, Marinette followed her friend as she slipped away from the paintings and moved towards the temporary exhibits. Alya did a quick double take before sliding under a staff only sign.

Marinette hesitated. The police would probably overlook Ladybug sneaking into an exhibit. They definitely wouldn't overlook a regular high school student who just happened to be trailing Ladybug. Curiosity, terror, and a little bit of excitement filled her as she slid after Alya.

The new exhibit area was Egyptian themed. After reading the description, Marinette remembered Alix talking about the exhibit at school. Her father had been working on it for the past couple months. Marinette gazed at the artifacts, awed at the collection of ancient religious figures and texts. Large statues of Egyptian gods lined the hallways, staring down at her as she silently crept after Alya.

Alya stopped in the room at the end of the hallway, glancing at the artifacts around her. Out of her bag flew Tikki, leading her chosen to a scroll on the far right corner of the room. Marinette crouched behind an open sarcophagus. Her heart was racing, her hands trembling as she used her phone's camera to zoom in on the hieroglyphics. She took a picture to look at later, but frowned as she realized the lack of clear illustrations with this work. Marinette was positive that even with the help of the entire internet, getting hieroglyphics translated without a professional would be impossible. Even more impossible would be the attempt to find one that would do it for free and without asking questions.

Alya seemed to be scanning the papyrus eagerly, watching Tikki point at parts energetically, when the sound of a door opening alerted all three of the occupants to the arrival of employees to the area. Marinette quickly put away her phone before covering her mouth with her hands and moving to the other side of the sarcophagus. She caught a glimpse of Alya performing a similar maneuver behind a statue of Anubis. Marinette held her bag tightly to her chest in one hand while she muffled her breathing with the other, listening intently for any sign that the new arrivals were leaving.

"Father, as you can see these images represent Tutankhamun the first and Nefertiti, his princess. She died before him, and legend says the God Ra took her to be his bride. Well, I've translated the rest of the hieroglyphics and I believe this to be a spell that when spoken with the scepter of Tutankhamun would bring back the dead in exchange for a sacrifice!" The voice sounded young and energetic, clearly confident in his work.

"Julien, these are all just legends. There is no such thing as a spell that can bring the dead back to life." Another voice echoed in the room, older and more skeptical, and just a bit weary.

"But Father! I can prove it. Just let me borrow the scepter and-"

"That scepter is an ancient relic ready to break if mishandled in any fashion. I will not allow you to remove it from its casing just to play God for a day!" The older voice boomed in the empty room, clearly shutting down any attempts at negotiation.

A single set of footsteps clicked away on the wooden floor, before coming to a stop. A heavy sigh came from the entrance.

"Julien, you're a brilliant boy and a gifted researcher, but there is nothing in these halls that will bring your mother back. Please let this obsession go and come back to the real world." And the footsteps continued until they no longer could be heard.

Marinette waited a bit for the other person to leave, but a minute passed with no sign of movement. She peered over the edge of her hiding spot to see the young male staring at the papyrus sheet. His hands angrily gripped his papers and his back jerked with silent sobs. Marinette frowned underneath her hand.

The young man straightened up and walked out abruptly, leaving the two girls alone in the room. Marinette continued to hide until she saw Alya cautiously get up to leave. After her friend seemed to have exited, Marinette finally stood up. She took a quick glance at the hallway exit before making her way to the papyrus.

Up close, the artifact was impressive. Beautiful drawings of pharaohs and gods were framed by the interesting composition of hieroglyphics. It really was a well preserved piece of history. The more Marinette looked, the more puzzled she felt. She couldn't see anything about this piece that screamed Ladybug. Even with Julien's translation of the piece, it still seemed to have little to do with superheroes at all. Marinette took a photo and turned to leave.

Maybe Tikki was using it as an example of something? Or maybe she was just helping Alya study for the upcoming test? Marinette started to feel incredibly stupid for jumping to conclusions. She had basically broken into an exhibit of one of the most famous museums on the planet just because Alya was studying with a magical being that lived in her earrings.

Screams echoed from the main halls and Marinette felt her face pale. She made her way to exit, jogging a bit before she saw the cause of the commotion walking down the hall. A very clearly Egyptian themed akuma was walking straight towards her. His body was large and imposing, a clean black, while his face was a golden mask of a pharaoh. She looked around her surroundings for a staff door, or any other way out of the room before realizing she was stuck. She quickly dived behind the display case for Tutenkhamen's scepter.

The akuma's footsteps echoed loudly as he approached, and Marinette cursed her luck as she realized the akuma was heading straight for the scepter. She let out a small scream and rolled away as the glass above her broke. Shaking her hair to rid herself of broken glass, Marinette looked into the eyes of a golden mask. The akuma looked her over before reaching out a hand to grab her wrist.

"You will be a suitable sacrifice to return my mother." The voice echoed under the mask.

Marinette froze in fear, barely struggling as the masked man lifted her on his shoulder. She stayed in shock until the screams of other patrons fleeing the Louvre snapped her out of it. She looked out at all the civilians running and pointing, searching for any sign of her friend. Marinette began to bang her hands on the akuma's back in an attempt to get him to loosen his hold on her.

"Ladybug! Chat Noir! Help!" Marinette cried out.

The akuma laughed and changed his face to that of a lion and he released golden spheres that seemed to slow time for anyone caught inside. He shot these spheres into the groups of tourists, trapping them.

A yo-yo wrapped around the akuma's free arm and pulled him to the ground, loosening his hold on Marinette. She cheered as Ladybug landed on the floor in front of them, glaring daggers at the Egyptian villain.

"You let her go, Pharaoh." Ladybug growled as she set her yo-yo flying towards his mask.

The akuma changed his face to a tiger and grabbed the projectile, tugging it himself. Ladybug lost her balance at the force of the pull. Pharaoh ran forward and pushed her into one of the nearby time bubbles and laughed.

"You won't stop me from achieving my goal, Ladybug." The akuma turned to leave, when an outline of a purple butterfly glowed over his face.

Marinette stopped struggling on his shoulder and watched intently.

"She will not be leaving anytime soon. I will get her Miraculous after I finish the ritual." Pharaoh growled.

The akuma marched out the Louvre, throwing Marinette on the pavement before the glass pyramid. Marinette hissed in pain as her skin met the ground. More screams echoed on the streets, and light sprung from Pharaoh's newly changed dog face. As each laser hit a person, they changed into a mummy hobbling towards Marinette and Pharaoh.

Marinette covered her mouth in horror as the horde of mummies circling her and Pharaoh jerked unnaturally and groaned. Her instincts were telling her to grab onto the akuma, to cower beneath the man in an attempt to disappear. Her brain, however, was working overtime to try and find an escape route. Marinette decided she needed answers.

"So what are we doing?" She stood up next to the akuma, trying to convey nonchalance.

He didn't even glance her way as he moved his hands in mystical fashion. "I am bringing together the components needed for the ritual."

Marinette nodded studiously. "Ah yes, the ritual. What are these components?" She watched him unroll the papyrus.

"One hundred mummies, the scepter of Tutenkhamen, the chant described on this scroll, and a pure soul to sacrifice." The scroll floated and unfurled around them as he continued.

At the mention of a sacrifice, Marinette cringed. She looked at the open courtyard around her and tried to spot Ladybug or Chat Noir. The only thing in her vision was the scroll and a crowd of mummies. She took a quick glance at Pharaoh, only to notice a jade scarab necklace. That had to be the location of the akuma. She refocused her gaze on the scroll passing by. She hoped it contained anything that could help.

Her eyes widened as she noticed a picture tucked between hieroglyphs.

"Who is that?" She pointed as a spotted woman twirling what looked to be a yo-yo. The akuma didn't move.

"That is Ladybug, the one who stopped me from achieving my goal 5,000 years ago. She may have gotten in my way before, but she will not this time." Marinette's mind raced with the new information.

She hadn't been the first Ladybug. Perhaps there had been a whole group of Ladybugs throughout history that she hadn't considered. Marinette grew quiet and looked at the ground. If there have been multiple Ladybugs, then did that mean the Miraculous Hawkmoth uses was also passed down to them? Has Ladybug been fighting Hawkmoth for centuries? If they stopped them now, would a new Hawkmoth rise up?

Marinette didn't get to stay in her thoughts for long. Pharaoh jerked forward as Chat Noir's staff jabbed his head. Marinette's smile of relief was instant.

"Don't you think we should wrap this up?" He quipped as he flipped forward and in front of the crowd of mummies.

"After him!" Pharaoh cried, crushing the papyrus and grabbing Marinette's arm.

"Ladybug! Chat Noir!" Marinette cried as she was dragged towards the glass pyramid. She glanced at the scarab necklace again, but she knew she wouldn't be able to take it by force.

The Louvre lit up, a bright beacon springing from its point. Marinette struggled against the akuma's hold, calling out for Paris' superheroes as she dug in her heels. A flash of red kicked Pharaoh, knocking him to the ground. Marinette felt herself get picked up again, and the familiar rush of air as she was carried through the sky.

Ladybug let Marinette down and gave her a calming smile. "Sorry we were so late."

Marinette shook her head and pointed at the akuma's chest. "Don't worry about that. The butterfly is in his necklace." Ladybug's surprised face reminded Marinette of her civilian status. "What, I've had the unfortunate pleasure of being near an akuma before. Doesn't take much to figure out what you guys do to fix them." She looked away from Ladybug's face, hoping her explanation was enough to rid her of suspicion.

Their conversation was cut by the akuma swooping in from the sky. Ladybug jumped up to stop him, but he changed abilities mid way to gain super-strength, overpowering the superheroine's yo-yo with ease. Ladybug was thrown towards the ground, barely managing to land on her feet.

"Oh come on! How many powers does this guy have!" She cursed before throwing her yo-yo up. "Lucky Charm!"

Marinette didn't get to see the Lucky Charm. Pharaoh had grabbed her when Ladybug had hit the ground. Now they were approaching the glowing tip of the Louvre and Marinette was getting more nervous. He placed her in the beam and she felt a force start to pull her towards the sky. Looking behind the akuma, she saw Ladybug ready a spotted baseball. She glanced down at the scarab necklace and made the connection in her head.

She watched as the baseball flew through the air. Gathering her strength, she waited until the ball hit the akuma. His body turned to glare at the offending object, and Marinette took that as her opportunity to grab the necklace and pull as hard as she could. With the combined force of the light carrying her away and her grip strength, the necklace string snapped. Ladybug cheered below her.

"NO!" The akuma yelled, turning to grab Marinette again.

Ladybug's spotted yo-yo sung through the air, catching Pharaoh's arms and pulling him back to the ground.

"Chat Noir, go!" She called out as she engaged in combat with the grounded akuma.

Marinette looked over to her left to see Chat balancing on his staff, slowly rising to her height. He gave her a charming smirk and quick bow before holding one of his arms out.

"Well hello there, purrincess. Shall I escort you back to safety?" Marinette just nodded, clutching the scarab necklace to her chest.

Chat Noir pulled her out of the light, carrying her bridal style as they descended back to the ground. Marinette felt her cheeks warm up from embarrassment as the rest of her body finally relaxed. Forcing herself to look anywhere other than his green eyes, which she could feel staring at her, she glanced down to see Ladybug triumphantly sitting on a tied up Pharaoh.

"Chat Noir, the akuma please." She called as they landed.

Chat carefully let Marinette down, and held his hand out.

"Thank you so much for your help today, but I'll be needing that necklace." He smiled, leaning on his staff.

"O-of course, no problem." Marinette dropped the item in his hands. Suddenly she felt her hands become fidgety and shake, her whole body finally recovering from the tense situation she had just found herself in. She hid them behind her back so the two heroes would hopefully not notice.

Chat gave her a strange glance before handing Ladybug the necklace. Marinette enjoyed watching her friend perform the healing magic that set everything back to normal. To her, this was Ladybug's greatest power. She tried not to think about the fact that she never got to use it.

Ladybug made her way over to Marinette, standing in front of her in a picture of confidence. "Are you ok? You didn't get hurt or anything?"

Marinette smiled at her friend's concern. "Yep. He never harmed me, just put me in a weird beam thing."

Ladybug nodded and opened her mouth to say something else when her Miraculous started to beep. She seemed to flinch and glare for a second before returning to her hero persona.

"Alright. Well if you are good then it is time for us to go." She ran off quickly, leaving her with only a wave.

Chat Noir moved to leave as well, turning one last time to salute before jumping across the nearest roof. Marinette spent a minute gathering her wits and letting her heart rate return to normal. She started the quick walk home muttering about mummies when she noticed the still crouched form of Julien. She almost walked passed, but seeing him so confused and a little pitiful she couldn't bring herself to leave him.

She stood awkwardly next to the young researcher, waiting a couple seconds before speaking.

"Um, I know this probably isn't my place to talk. But…" She looked at the Louvre and gathered her thoughts. "It seems like you're doing good work and making progress in your field." She looked back down at him. "I think no matter where your mom is now, she's gotta be proud of you."

Marinette knew that she didn't know him or his mom well enough to really make that claim. She understood that these were just sugary words that sounded nice and unassuming. Even with that, she hoped at least hearing them would ease him in some way. She turned to walk away, not wanting to overstay her welcome.

"Um, miss?" Marinette paused and glanced back at Julien. He wasn't facing her, but she could still see his body shake with silent sobs.

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

She smiled and nodded at his back before walking home.

* * *

The next day, Alya was unusually quiet. Marinette spent the morning carrying the conversation, discussing the design contest, Nino's new mixtape, even Chloe's latest attempt to woo Adrien. None of her topics got much beyond a few sentences before dying. Alya had barely emoted outside of basic courtesy actions at all.

After a quiet lunch, Marinette started to feel on edge, torn between two thoughts on how to proceed. On the one hand, this could be a Ladybug problem. The best way to handle that scenario would be to provide quiet comfort and ease her school day as much as possible. On the other hand, this could be an Alya problem. That… Well, Marinette still wasn't sure what she could do to help if it wasn't a hero problem. It would entirely depend on what kind of problem Alya was having. That was where her indecision had kept her all day.

Watching Alya glance at her throughout science, Marinette settled on asking her after school. Not knowing what was bothering her friend was going to slowly kill her all day if she didn't find out soon. When the last bell rang through the school, Marinette turned to her friend.

"Spill it, what's been eating at you." Alya's eyes widened

"What do you mean, girl?" She moved her books into her bag. Marinette's eyes narrowed.

"What I mean is you've only spoken, like, fifteen words to me today! You clearly aren't all here, and as your friend it worries me." Alya's smile dropped for a second. She looked down at her hands before putting her backpack on.

"How about we hang out at your place today?" Marinette raised an eyebrow.

"Will you tell me what's bothering you?"

"Absolutely."

Marinette's face was right up to Alya's, analyzing her friends facial features for any sign of deception. Happy with her findings, Marinette packed up her stuff and led the charge to her house.

They picked up some freshly baked cookies on their way up the stairs to Marinette's room. The smell was intoxicating. Marinette struggled not to wolf down a couple the minute they sat their stuff on the ground. She set the cookies on her desk and prepared two fluffy pillows on the ground for Alya's talk.

Alya seemed to think for a second before sitting down, hugging a pink furry pillow to her chest. Marinette settled in across from her, clutching her black cat stuffed animal in one hand and a cookie in another. She nodded her head at her friend in indication to start whenever she was ready.

"So I've just been thinking about...um…" She fidgeted with the pillow in her lap. "I...um…I was at the Louvre yesterday."

Marinette hoped she didn't see her stiffen. Maybe it was about something not embarrassing like someone being kidnapped by an Egyptian themed supervillain?

"And I saw the akuma yesterday… and I saw you."

Marinette bit her tongue.

"I got so worried, and I know Ladybug and Chat Noir will always save the day, but that didn't stop me from being so scared." Tears started to pool at the corners of Alya's eyes. "I couldn't help myself from thinking what if Ladybug fails this time? What if she isn't invincible? What if…"

She looked up at Marinette and the tears were pouring down her face.

"What if you had gotten really hurt? Can Ladybug even fix that?"

The sobbing had started in earnest, and Marinette couldn't hold herself back. She was by Alya's side and giving her a warm and comforting hug. The red-head shook in her arms. Marinette laid her head on Alya's and whispered in her hair. They stayed like that for a couple minutes until Alya got a hold of her breath again, with only the occasional sniffle.

"Sorry, I shouldn't be crying like that. You were the one captured by a creepy villain and almost sacrificed." She wiped her eyes and gave a weak smile.

"I understand." Alya gave her a disbelieving look. "No, really! I was so scared when you left to go face Stoneheart. It was…" Marinette looked over to her mirror where she had seen herself as Ladybug. "It was terrifying to think that you were near this thing that seemed impossible to defeat, and the only thing that could stop it was a girl in a spandex suit and a yo-yo."

She turned and gave Alya a big smile. "But then I saw Ladybug. I saw her fight, and I saw her promise to save Paris." She grabbed Alya's shoulders, forcing Alya to look into her eyes. "And I believe her."

More tears pooled at the corner of Alya's eyes, but she couldn't have a bigger smile. She hugged Marinette. They both relaxed and normal conversation started flowing again. Cookies were enjoyed, homework was bemoaned, and games were played. After Marinette beat Alya for the fourth time, Alya got a weird glint in her eye.

Marinette was in the middle of pulling off a substantial combo against Alya's robot fighter when the red-head pulled out her trump card.

"So how was Chat Noir? Did you feel abs underneath his cat-suit?"

The memory of Chat Noir carrying her came uninvited into her mind. Marinette's hands stilled and Alya's robot knocked her out, a loud KO echoing in the room.

"Yes! Got ya'!" Alya cheered, throwing her hands into the air.

Marinette tried to find words. "Wha- ho- why-" She looked at her hands in horror as she found herself unable to find a sentence, her cheeks flooding with heat. "I didn't- Why would I- have his abs noticed?"

Alya turned to face her with wide eyes, but they quickly narrowed into a knowing smirk. "Oh? Does he actually have abs? Must be pretty ripped to have you flustered." She elbowed Marinette playfully.

Marinette felt like her entire body was blushing. She tried to get rid of the image of his arms carrying her out of her mind, but now that Alya had brought it up, it made it even harder to think of anything else. She was pretty sure this was just a response to being saved by an admittedly handsome guy in a cat-suit. That didn't make this any less mortifying.

"I am not flustered! I just- He's a- I'm not- GAH!" She crossed her arms and glared at Alya. "I. Do. Not. Know. Anything. About. His. Abs."

Alya laughed at Marinette's embarrassment. "Girl, I'm just joking." She put away her controller and turned to her friend. "Did someone catch a little superhero crush?"

"Wha- No!" Marinette looked away. "I just got caught up in being rescued. You know, adrenaline and stuff."

"I get it. Don't worry." Alya laid back on the floor. "Wouldn't that be funny though? Having a crush on a superhero? Like, how would that work? Do you think the suit comes of-"

"STOP! No no no no." Marinette shook her head, holding her hands against her ears. "I do not need to picture wherever you are going with that."

Alya laughed and threw her pillow at Marinette.


	4. We all get overwhelmed sometimes

Marinette collapsed on her bed and cried tears of fatigue and frustration. Both her body and her mind were exhausted beyond any feeling of exhaustion she had ever felt before. She had expected, after Pharaoh, Hawkmoth would take a break before sending more akumas. Usually they had, at most, one attack a week.

This week, there were already three, and it was only Wednesday.

Monday had the Pharaoh incident. Tuesday was supposed to be just a regular day of school, excluding the emotional hangout session with Alya, but then everyone in the class was called to watch a race between Alix and Kim that apparently too important to wait. Due to Chloe's negligence, an important family heirloom was broken and Alix became Timebreaker. Wednesday wasn't much better as Nino asked the class to help out on a project after school which ended with another Chloe caused akumatization.

Marinette sat up on her bed and took in a deep breath. This week had more than usual akumas, but it also included all her usual duties as well. She still had homework, tests, chores, and Hawkmoth research to occupy almost every minute of the rest of her time. Her brain was barely functioning on the 4 hours of sleep she was averaging these nights. She didn't know how Alya was faring as Ladybug, but if the dark circles under her eyes indicated anything, she was having just as tough a time as Marinette was.

She grabbed her notebook from her secret compartment and quickly wrote some notes about the time and abilities of Horrificator. Maybe more frustrating than the frequencies of these attacks was the lack of real information from them. Timebreaker was practically over the minute it began, as a second Ladybug appeared as Alix was akumatized. The two Ladybugs and Chat Noir won that battle easily. Marinette knew she must have missed something from that encounter.

The Horrificator incident was also fairly lackluster when it came to Hawkmoth clues. Mylene had terrorized the class, but nothing had really been gained from that. If anything, it only gave Marinette a couple hours to fantasize about being at home and finally finishing that French assignment. Writing the notes of the encounter, a thought ran through her sleep-deprived mind.

How had Chat Noir made it in the school if it was covered in unbreakable spit?

The idea bothered Marinette, but she let it go easily. Why would she care about Chat Noir's identity anyway? Hawkmoth's was already more than enough to handle. Her eyes were fighting to stay open and each word became harder to focus on. She struggled to finish her thoughts. Finally her body's cries for relief won her over, and Marinette hid her notebook before falling into the embrace of sleep.

* * *

The next day at school, there was a low energy pervading the class. While not as tired or overworked as Alya or herself were, it seemed that two classmate akumas in a row had taken its toll on the other students as well. Even Adrien, who was usually excited just to be in school, was visibly exhausted.

"Hey Adrien. No sleep for you either?" Marinette waved as she passed by his seat to hers. He smiled in return.

"Yeah. Three akuma attacks in a row is brutal." Marinette's eyes widened and her face started to burn in embarrassment.

"T-Three?" Her mind pictured herself being carried like a sack of potatoes by Pharaoh. "So that me-means… you sa-saw…" she stuttered, flustered.

Adrien's face went through a range of unnamed emotions before settling on a friendly neutral face.

"Not really, I barely saw the Egyptian akuma at the Louvre. Got turned into a mummy pretty quickly so I didn't get to see any of his fight with Ladybug." He smiled and turned towards Miss Bustier as she started class.

Her heart calmed down as the class continued. It was embarrassing enough that Alya had to see her kidnapped and almost sacrificed, plus her being saved by Chat Noir. Marinette didn't want to think of the endless taunting she'd receive if word spread around their class to Chloe or Sabrina. Luckily, Alya hadn't bothered asking her for footage of the encounter to post on the Ladyblog.

The bell rang and the class sullenly moved to Ms. Mendeliev's room. Marinette and Alya both had an understanding that they just needed a quiet day, so they worked in companionable silence. The rest of the class quietly discussed their lab assignments, even Chloe was quieter than usual. Low noise and methodical work combined into a relaxing atmosphere for Marinette, and slowly she let herself zone-out and enjoy the break.

"What is that cat-scratch! You are supposed to be working on the assignment from page 126 in your textbook." Marinette turned to see Ms. Mendeliev standing over Nathaniel's desk.

"It's just a drawing." Nathaniel muttered quietly, not looking Ms. Mendeliev in the eyes.

"Well I'm sure, since it's so important, you won't mind going to the principal's office to show Mr. Damocles."

Ms. Mendeliev marched back to her desk in the front as Nathaniel quietly gathered his things to leave. The boy clutched his sketchbook to his chest as he hurried out. Not aware of the backpack in his path, he stumbled, spilling pages of art out of his arms.

Chloe picked up a page that landed on her desk and snickered.

"Oh look, it's Nathaniel as a superhero!" She and Sabrina laughed as Nathaniel scurried around the floor collecting his work.

Chloe took another look at the art in her hand before a gleeful smile spread across her face.

"And is that Marinette he's saving?" Marinette's face paled and then blossomed into a beautiful rosy hue.

Tears filled the artist's eyes. Chloe and Sabrina's laughs echoed after Nathaniel as he ran out of the room. Marinette was focused on trying to control her blush when she looked over at Alya. Her face was one of frustration and weary acceptance, looking towards the classroom door.

"You ok, Alya?" Marinette whispered, grateful for the distraction from the accidental confession.

"Peachy." Alya growled out. Marinette blinked in surprise before nodding her head and returning to her lab work.

Alya didn't say another word for the rest of the period, her body tense as if waiting for something. Marinette also didn't talk, though she noticed Nino and Adrien giving them both odd looks. When the bell rang, she felt a wave of relief. They all packed their bags and exited the room towards the library.

"Soooo, how's our favorite designer going to handle her new fan?" Nino teased.

Marinette's blush returned and she glared at the boy. "I'm not going to handle anything. I've hardly got enough time to work on my own things, let alone having a relationship on top of that."

Nino's face fell for a second, giving a quick glance at Adrien before returning to Marinette with a smile.

"That's our Marinette for ya, always so studious and logical. Truly, we only bring her down." He winked and chuckled as Marinette playfully slapped his arm.

Marinette stuck her tongue out at Nino before turning to Adrien and Alya. "He's right, he's bringing us down. We should just ditch him."

Adrien's and Alya's faces both turned into mischievous smiles, the three friends turning towards the library and running. Nino called out behind them before giving chase. Their laughter could be heard throughout the school. For the first time that day, they were back to normal.

Entering the library ended their fun. The room was in chaos. Bookshelves had been toppled over, students were cowering underneath tables, and a giant hair blower was chasing Chloe around the room. Immediately Alya's shoulders tensed. Marinette had to think fast.

"Let's split up and try to warn as many people as possible." Alya nodded.

"Good idea. You go back to the classrooms. Nino, you go inform principal Damocles. Adrien, you can hit the locker rooms. I'll see if I can find anyone else around here and get them out."

Marinette and the others nodded before running towards their assigned destinations. Once out of sight of the others, Marinette stopped behind a wall and got her phone's camera ready. She peaked out from her hiding spot towards the doors to the Library. Ladybug was quick to show, diving straight through the doors. Chat Noir was close behind.

Marinette was about to enter herself, when she spotted the stairs leading to the Libraries second floor. Peaking through the doors, she could only see the mess of destruction the akuma had caused. She needed a better view. Her feet started to run up the stairs.

Through the library's second floor door, Marinette could see the railing and not much else. She quietly crept inside and sat underneath the railing. From here, she could see the whole first floor and capture the fight. She started recording and focused on the two superheroes.

Ladybug was leading the fight, using her yo-yo to limit the blow dryer's movements. Chat Noir was following, waiting for the perfect time to solidly strike the object. Finally he leaped from his perch atop a bookshelf to slam his staff into the oversized appliance. Both Ladybug and Chat Noir ran forward to catch the akuma, but no butterfly flew out of the object's remains.

Ladybug pointed upwards towards the railing across from Marinette. Marinette quickly lifted her camera to catch sight of the real villain. He was a boy their age with bright orange hair blown to the side and a beret neatly placed atop his head. His suit was skin tight with patterns of black and white waves surrounding three orbs of different colors. On his left wrist was a small drawing tablet.

It took a second for Marinette to place a name to the face, but once she had suddenly Alya's anger in chemistry made a lot more sense.

"Oh, poor Nathaniel."

The villain brandished a tablet pen and drew over his left arm. Between him and Ladybug's incoming yo-yo an opaque wall formed. He smirked as the yo-yo bounced harmlessly off. Immediately he moved away from the two heroes, and straight towards Marinette's hiding place.

Marinette quickly glanced around for a place to hide, but the second floor was only the walkway with bookshelves lining the walls. The only place for her to go was back down the stairs, but seeing as Nathaniel seemed to be looking for an exit, it didn't take much to guess where he was headed. A little frustrated with her predicament, she found a large enough gap between two bookshelves and squeezed in. Perhaps he would run by so fast, he wouldn't even notice she was there?

A few seconds later and the villain did run by, only to halt in front of Marinette. Her breath caught and she stood frigid against the wall. His gaze lingered on her face for a moment, his expression unreadable. With a swish of his pen he had drawn a rose. The flower materialized before him and he handed it to her without a word. Then he was gone, running down the stairwell and escaping his pursuers.

It took a moment for Marinette to unfreeze. Her hands were still clutching the stem of the rose, thoughtfully thornless. A little part of her felt very flattered by the gesture, the part of her that realized this was unfortunately the most romantic thing anyone had ever done for her. The rest of her was frustrated at the fourth akuma bothering her this week. She stepped out of her hiding place and closed her camera app before looking up into the eyes of Ladybug.

"AH, AL-LADYBUG!"

The superheroine's face held a mixture of annoyance and concern. Behind her stood Chat Noir, casually holding his staff behind his neck, looking equally as concerned.

"Did that akuma do anything to you? Did he say anything?" Marinette shook her head.

"No, he didn't say anything. He just gave me this rose." She held out the flower to Ladybug.

Ladybug stared at the flower for a moment, thinking hard about something. Chat Noir peered around her shoulder, watching quietly. After rolling it around in her hands, she handed it back to Marinette.

"That's nice of him, I suppose." She turned to Chat Noir.

"Let's go. We should try to find him before he causes any more trouble." She returned her gaze to Marinette.

"Go straight home. We don't know what he's going to do and if he bothered to stop and hand you a rose we can't rule you out as a target."

Marinette nodded, and the two heroes sprinted away in the same direction as Nathaniel. For a minute she just stood and watched the stairwell, as if the villain would return just because Ladybug had left.

"An akuma has been spotted near school grounds. School has been cancelled for the rest of the day. Please return to your home safely and in an orderly fashion." The overhead speakers chimed in.

Marinette grabbed her things and headed home, fighting the urge to look over her shoulder.

* * *

In her room, Marinette felt safe. Logically, she understood that her room wasn't anymore safe than a classroom, but in the same way a blanket suddenly shields a child from the monsters under their bed, so did her pink walls shield her from the outside world. She tried to focus on finishing her homework assignments, spending precious time she hadn't had all week.

Lunch time came around and Marinette glanced at her phone. She had texted Alya to let her know when she got home. No answer meant that Ladybug was still out fighting the villain. It was unusual for a fight to go on this long, so they must not have found him yet. She retrieved her notebook from under her bed and started to fill out a new entry for Nathaniel's villain.

It seemed he had artistic powers, which Marinette had to remind herself was not something to be jealous of. Nothing about the interaction with Ladybug and Chat Noir indicated Hawkmoth's presence. The only real information she could glean from this was the time of the attack. It happened during school hours. Early school hours, and almost immediately after Nathaniel felt embarrassed by Chloe.

All these akumatizations just didn't seem to have a schedule. Some were early morning, and some were later in the afternoon. The speed at which people were akumatized after a negative event meant both that Hawkmoth definitely had to have some sort of passive emotion detection power and that they had to be in a position where they could transform quickly without anyone noticing.

She spun her desk chair and held her pen to her chin, tapping as the possibilities ran through her head.

They don't have a job or school to go to so they have unlimited free time. Lucky.

They do have a job, but one where they work alone? Or maybe they're in charge and so no one can stop them from taking strange mid-day breaks.

They're being super safe and planning vacation days and sick leave from wherever they are to make it seem like they have no schedule.

She gripped her head and groaned in frustration. Why did Hawkmoth have to have the superpower where they didn't even have to show-up to the fight? All this guess work was just that, guesses. She had over 100 people confirmed not Hawkmoth and that wasn't even a dent in the Parisian population!

A knock on the balcony ceiling door startled Marinette out of her deep contemplation. She hurriedly threw her notebook back into the secret compartment while her thoughts spiraled in a completely new direction.

Is it Nathaniel? Did he actually come to kidnap me? Is this really happening again?

Her thoughts were cut by a concerned, but somewhat familiar, superhero voice.

"Hello? Marinette? Are you in there?" Chat Noir called.

Marinette sighed in relief before curiosity struck her. She finished sealing away her secrets before opening the overhead latch. Not a second later the cat theme superhero popped his head in.

"Hello! Glad to see you're here and in one piece." He hopped down, landing next to Marinette on her bed.

Marinette crossed her arms and gave the intruder a thunderous glare. "And why is one of Paris' daring duo breaking into my room?"

He took it in stride, a playful smirk dancing across his lips. "To be fair, I didn't break in. I knocked and you opened." he jumped off the bed and examined her room. "Ladybug told me to stick by your side till she found your unfortunate suitor."

Every second Chat stayed bothered Marinette more. She climbed down her ladder and stood in front of her desk, trying to keep herself from glancing at her secret stash of Hawkmoth related materials.

"That's very kind of you, but shouldn't Ladybug have stayed instead? You know, so there wasn't a boy sneaking into my room? Also why didn't you just use the front door?" There was no way her smile didn't seem tense, but Chat either didn't notice or decided to ignore it.

"Ladybug insisted, I'm hardly just any boy, and because the more people that know I'm here the more likely your location gets broadcasted all over Paris. Besides, I've saved you at least twice by now. Certainly that earns me a bit of trust, Purrincess?" He grinned widely.

Marinette's face blossomed into a red hue. She could just see Alya's infuriating scheming face as she sends Chat to her house. She almost considered revealing her knowledge of her secret identity if only so she could give her spotted friend a piece of her mind. Then the nickname registered.

"Oh god, do not call me princess."

"Oh? But you took on such a pretty red color at the name." Marinette's face hardened.

"Are you this obnoxious to all civilians, or just the pretty girls?"

With that, Chat seemed to recoil. His body took a less confident pose and he nervously scratched his head.

"Sorry, you're right. You're already being targeted by one flirty superpowered dude, you don't need me adding to that." he held out his hand for a handshake. "I mean it, I'm sorry. You just have a witty attitude about you and I got caught up in it. Start over?"

Marinette looked down at the offered hand and sighed. He wasn't wrong about deserving a little trust at this point. She reached out and grabbed his leather-clad hand.

"Fine. My name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng. I'm the daughter of bakers and I'm currently hiding from a villain who was my classmate that may have a crush on me." Chat's smile brightened.

"Hello Miss Dupain-Cheng, my name is Chat Noir and I'm a superhero with a cat themed outfit and destructive powers. I've been asked here by My Lady to make sure said classmate does not harm you."

Marinette smirked. "My Lady?"

This time Chat's cheeks reddened. "Just a nickname I have for Ladybug."

Marinette giggled a bit before trailing off, feeling the awkwardness that comes from having a superpowered stranger in your bedroom.

"Soooo, how long do you plan to stay?" Chat shrugged and settled on her chaise. He seemed nonchalant, yet his posture gave away his exhaustion. It was a reminder to Marinette that not only had she and Alya been up fighting, or in her case studying, akumas, Chat Noir had been just as busy these past 4 days.

"Honestly, don't know. Probably only an hour or so till Ladybug catches the guy or calls me to help."

Marinette could tell he was being optimistic. He was probably hoping for the same thing she was, an easy victory that left them with plenty of time to rest. She knew she had promised herself to make this superhero fighting business as easy as possible for Alya. Perhaps today she could extend the courtesy to Ladybug's other half.

"So you're saying I should bring up croissants for two?" Chat's eyes widened and he practically swooned.

"Miss Dupain-Cheng, I have never heard anything so lovely in my life." Marinette rolled her eyes, but couldn't help the laugh that burst forth.

"Marinette is fine, and I'll take that as a yes. Give me a moment, there is Mecha Strike 3 loaded in already if you want to turn on the TV and start a round."

"Marinette, you're a woman after my own heart." He fluttered his eyes and sighed dramatically before jumping over to the console and setting up the game.

"Sure, you won't be saying that after I beat you. It'll be so hard you'll swear I have a superpower."

He responded with a predatory smirk. "Challenge accepted."

* * *

"How have you won 37 times in a row? That's not humanly possible!" Chat whined as the KO screen glowed on the TV.

Marinette sat next to him, unabashedly smug. "Told ya, I've got a superpower of my own."

The cat hero pouted, crossing his arms over his chest. "You have to be cheating, there is no way you can be that good." He jokingly pretended to pull up her console and look behind her TV.

"You're just jealous of my skills." Marinette poked one of his leather cat ears and watched it bounce back.

"I am-" He cut off mid sentence, his posture straightening up in a defensive position. He turned his head so that his right ear was pointed towards the window.

"We've got company." he moved between the window and Marinette.

He quickly pulled out his baton and started pressing along the staff. Marinette kept her eyes on the baton, watching as it changed into a communicator. After a moment Ladybug appeared on screen.

"Chat Noir?" Chat put a finger over his lips to signal her to be quiet.

"Evillustrator is on his way, the Dupain-Cheng bakery, 30 seconds top." Ladybug nodded.

"Alright, Chat. I'll be right there."

The baton changed back into its staff form. Chat got into a battle stance just as the window started to magically erase. Flying through the hole was Evillustrator on a flying carpet. He landed on the bedroom floor, taking a step off before the carpet fizzled out of existence. He looked over at Marinette and gave a small smile before glaring at Chat Noir.

"Get out of my way, Cat." He growled as he brandished his pen.

"And let you bother the little lady? Nah, I think she's had enough guys in spandex bothering her already." Chat grinned and winked at the villain.

"I'm her prince! Here to take her on the most romantic date of her life." He did a quick sketch on his tablet with a flourish.

A note card materialized in the air above Marinette. It floated gently down into her hands. She carefully flipped it over to see a drawing of her and the Evillustrator under the Eiffel Tower on a gondola. She looked up to face Evillustrator.

"I don't want to go on a date with you, Nathaniel." She tried to keep her voice strong and even.

Evillustrator's face curled in a fiery rage. His fists clenched together painfully, clutching the pen into his palm. A pink outline of a butterfly appeared on his face, then left almost as quickly as it came.

"Well, you heard her. She's just not into being a princess." Chat Noir winked at Marinette before launching forward and attacking the akuma.

Marinette dived under her desk to avoid the fight. Blow after blow was exchanged between the two combatants, along with some cat pun based taunts from Chat. She was torn between watching the battle and making sure her secret compartment stayed closed. Marinette just hoped they wouldn't tear her room up permanently in the fight.

Fortunately, Ladybug arrived at that moment, swinging in and landing a hit on Evillustrator. Chat Noir gave her a happy salute before launching into his next move against a paintbrush Evillustrator had drawn up. Ladybug threw her yo-yo out to encircle the akuma's waist, pulling him out the window and into the streets. Chat Noir dissipated the paintbrush before jumping out after them.

Marinette scrambled over to the erased window to watch the action. It was almost an aerial battle, with both Chat Noir and Ladybug launching themselves in the air to combat the Evillustrator and his newly drawn jetpack. On the streets below most people screamed in terror and fled, while some hid behind buildings and cars to watch the spectacle.

The fight lasted another couple minutes before Marinette had to duck as Evillustrator was flung back into the room, crashing against her walls with a heavy thud. She watched as the villain got up slowly, nursing a headache. A quick glance down showed he was still clutching the pen, and a plan was formed. She took a deep breath and put on her most concerned face.

"Evillustrator? Are you ok?" She walked up gently to the groggy villain. His eyes took a second to focus on her face, but he didn't try to back away.

"Marinette?" His voice was quiet, but it was clear he was starting to get his strength back.

"Yeah, I'm here. Don't worry." She tentatively reached down to grasp both his hands, desperately trying to keep her eyes on his and not on her real goal.

He let her cradle both hands in hers, his face softening as he looked at her. She started to lace her fingers in with his, loosening the pen from his grasp.

"Have you finally accepted my offer?" His face held such hope, and for a second Marinette felt guilty. For a second, he was just Nathaniel, her quiet, shy classmate.

"I'm sorry."

She pulled her hands back as hard as she could, grasping the pen and taking it with her. The Evillustrator's face morphed into a rage as he screamed at her, reaching out for the pen. It was too late. She threw the object out the window and into Chat Noir's hand, already swirling with the cataclysm magic.

The akuma broke free of the pen shell and started to fly away, only to be caught by Ladybug's yo-yo. Both she and Chat Noir celebrated with a fist bump as she called out her Miraculous Ladybug power. Marinette watched in fascination as her partly destroyed room filled with red and pink sparkles before returning to the mess it was before Evillustrator broke in.

A groan brought her attention back to Nathaniel, now back to his normal self. He looked discombobulated, barely able to comprehend where he was. Though, that probably wasn't helped by the fact he was in a very pink, very girly bedroom he had never seen before in his life.

"Uh, Nathaniel? It's me, Marinette." She reached down to help the boy up. He grabbed on gratefully, taking in his surroundings.

"Uh, where am I?" The balcony door opened above Marinette's bed and both of Paris' superheroes jumped down.

"Hello, Ladybug here. You were akumatized. No need to fret though. We fixed everything up back to normal." Ladybug smiled, hands on her hips proudly. Marinette could see the exhaustion leaking under the mask though. Chat was also starting to show some wear.

"I'll take Nathaniel to his house. Chat, you go ahead and head home." Ladybug smiled and grabbed onto Nathaniel's waist lifting him up towards the balcony. "Thank you for your help, Marinette. Sorry about leaving you with this dork all day." She winked and jumped out of the room before Marinette could reply.

"I'm not a dork. If anything, I'm a nerd." Chat grumbled playfully. He headed up the ladder and towards the balcony. Marinette was ready to wave goodbye when he paused.

"It was… really nice to hang out today. I had a lot of fun." His voice carried a tinge of sadness. Marinette couldn't think of a reason why.

"Yeah. I also had fun today. Thanks for protecting me."

"You know, for some strange reason, I think you would have been able to handle him just fine on your own. But I'm always happy to help." He gave a real smile and grabbed the handle of the overhead door.

"You're always welcome to stop by."

Marinette and Chat Noir froze. She couldn't understand why she blurted that out. Sure, she wasn't against Chat Noir's company, but he was a superhero with a secret identity. He was supposed to be fighting crime in the suit, not hanging out with Parisian teenagers. And yet…

Something about him told her he needed all the friends he could get, and the kind hearted softy inside couldn't just let someone like that leave without at least extending an invitation.

Still, it was kinda awkward to invite one of the town's superheroes to your bedroom to hang out.

"Y-you know… if you want to have your kitty behind kicked in Mecha Strike 3. Always available to… to do that." Marinette stuttered and finished lamely.

Chat seemed to think for a moment before a wide, and a little mischievous, smile crossed his face.

"I guess I'll have to train for the next time we meet, Purrincess." He saluted before jumping out the door.

Marinette huffed and climbed up the ladder, poking her newly blushed head out as the cat hero jumped off her balcony.

"Don't call me princess, you mangy cat!"

Laughter was her only reply.

* * *

The next day Marinette got up with more pep in her step than the last three days combined. Evillustrator had caused school to go half a day, and even with the distraction that was Chat Noir, she had been able to complete a lot of her assignments on schedule. She even had enough time for a full night's rest, which almost felt like a luxury now.

Alya, Adrien, and the rest of the class seemed to have had equally restful nights as the class was back to its loud and colorful ways.

"Alright class, settle down. I'm glad you all are feeling much better today. It would be great if you could channel that energy into the creative project the school has put together for you." Miss Bustier smiled and handed out sheets of paper that were almost like flyers instead of a school assignment.

"It's totally voluntary, but the school has partnered with the Gabriel Agreste fashion brand to hold a contest for amateur designers. You all have 24 hours to design and make something to show the judges. The theme is derby hats, so think outside the box to really impress the judges. One of them will be Mr. Agreste himself!"

Marinette looked over at Alya with a nervous smile, but her seatmate was already holding two thumbs up, ready to cheer on her friend. Nino and Adrien both turned from their seats to quietly give her encouragement as well.

For the rest of the school day, Marinette spent more time working on her design than on the classwork. Alya was more than happy to cover for her, writing down notes and answers between them for easy access in case Marinette was called on.

And that was Marinette's saving grace because she was hyper focused in design mode. Size, brim, texture, fabric, style, all her thoughts revolved around creating the perfect design to show off to her idol. She hadn't worked on a derby hat before, but she wouldn't let such a trivial thing stop her from doing her best work.

Unfortunately, by the end of the school day Marinette was still stuck on what the theme of the hat should be. Her cheery mood was slowly crumbling under the pressure to not only shine but win this golden opportunity. She wouldn't impress Mr. Agreste with just a well made hat.

Leaving her friends at school, Marinette walked to the Trocadero, enjoying the sun and nice breeze. Here she would find her inspiration, she just knew it. After spending only minutes sketching under the midday sun, a man caught her attention due to the sheer volume of pigeons following him to a bench.

He seemed a happy man, incredibly lanky and tall, but nicely dressed. He blew in a strange whistle to call the attention of his birds as he fed them birdseed. Marinette watched the birds for a moment when inspiration struck. She would make a feather hat!

She spent the next moments in her design zone, sketching out the perfect derby hat to show off her skills and talent as a designer. Her pencil moved as an artist's brush would, flowing across the paper effortlessly but with purpose. She was almost there, almost at the end of her design when a commotion brought her back to reality.

Officer Raincomprix was beside the pigeon man, shooing away the birds. They got into an argument, though it clearly looked very one-sided. The pigeon man just looked dejected after his scolding, and he walked away sullenly.

Marinette sighed and closed her sketchbook.

Normally, she would care from a distance. Hope his day gets better, but focus on her own needs. But not now. Not when she had the chance of a lifetime. Not when she had just gotten through four akumas and two almost kidnappings without falling apart.

No, she was not letting the week end with five akuma attacks. Not if she could help it.

She'd never know it, but that was the single most heroic thing she had done all week.


	5. The Stabbing would hurt less

Three months had passed since Marinette's encounter with the Evillustrator. It had been three months of learning to deal with this new normal Hawkmoth had put Paris under. Originally, most outlets and news associations had tried to be optimistic about the inevitable defeat of their new villain. The story had been 'give it a week', then the story had changed to 'end of the month we'll be back to normal'.

Now there were jobs dedicated to reporting on Akuma attacks, proof that no one really thought the attacks were going to end soon.

In that three month period, Marinette had also gone through some changes. At first, hunting Hawkmoth had been her new project, a search that gave her purpose. Now it was the hobby that stayed at the back of her mind, refusing to let her go. She had notebooks dedicated to confirmed innocents, schedules, powers and traits, unconfirmed theories; everything and anything she could pick out about Ladybug's encounters with the villain was recorded and stored. Her frustration at the seemingly futile nature of this endeavor grew with every new Akuma. It hadn't turned into an obsession yet, but Marinette realized she was always on the edge of being consumed by her search.

Her relationships had changed as well. With every attack, the nature of what she was trying to do, and what was at risk, became more real. The akumatized villains were slowly becoming stronger, smarter, more complex. This had made her cling to her friendships even more, spending every available minute she could hanging out and trying to forget the new normal they were living in, enjoying what could always be taken away if she wasn't careful. Alya, Nino, and Adrien had all become a tight knit group of friends she knew she could depend on.

The most unexpected change in her life had to be the one she was waiting for right now. She stood on her balcony in the cold night air, her arms clenched tightly against her chest in a feeble attempt to retain heat. Cold seeped in through the bottom of her socks and she was regretting her stubbornness against finding a jacket. Her blue eyes were focused on the rooftops nearby.

A black silhouette jumped from behind one of her neighbor's roofs and landed beside her. A deep chuckle echoed as she jumped, startled.

"Why hello, Purrincess. What are you doing out in the cold all by your lonesome?" Chat Noir smirked as he put away his baton.

Marinette rolled her eyes, but didn't bother fighting the smile on her face. "Was waiting for a stray cat. He likes to visit often. Seems to come for my father's croissants." She playfully flicked one of his cat ears before heading to her bedroom hatch.

She pulled open the door before jumping down, inviting Chat Noir in from the cold. The blond superhero jumped into her room gracefully. "Oh, I'm sure he doesn't just visit for the croissants." A warm whiff of freshly baked goodies made it's way past Chat's nose. "Though, they certainly are a plus." His eyelids lowered as he took in the heavenly scent.

Marinette let out a full laugh. "No need to hold yourself back, dig in."

Nothing more had to be said. Chat Noir jumped off her bed and landed comfortably in her chaise lounge, grabbing a croissant from the plate next to the chair. He took a bite and let out a comically overacted moan, but Marinette appreciated the meaning.

They had started a simple friendship since Evillustrator. Marinette had been shocked by his first appearance on her balcony, but over the months it had become a habit. Wednesday nights, when everyone else was ready to end their days, Marinette stayed up an extra hour or two to entertain the superhero. He was surprisingly easy to talk to considering she didn't even know his real identity. She had learned he was a cat of many talents, smart, wity, arrogant to a fault….

...he was also an absolute glutton for baked goods.

Chat sat up and let out a sigh of contentment. "Marinette, I'm never letting you go. I'm going to hold you ransom so that your father has to continue baking me things for the rest of my life."

Marinette rolled her eyes. "You could just come through the front door and pay like everyone else."

"How do you know I haven't?"

Marinette paused on her way down from her bed. "I guess I don't. Have you?"

Chat had started to move to the television and game console, but his cat ears were angled towards her. "That's awfully close to an identity question, but I'll give you this one. No. My father would never let me eat sweets, let alone buy what I want from a bakery."

Marinette brought over two beanbags for them to sit in. "Stickler about food? Sounds rough."

He shrugged and gave her a controller, settling into a beanbag. "Yeah, wants me to be my healthiest, you could say."

She ignored the way her heart skipped a beat as their hands touched. "I'm sure it's out of love."

"I try to believe so."

The atmosphere went quiet. It hurt to hear Chat talking in that tone, one that said he had detached himself from the topic. It didn't suit what was usually such a passionate guy. Marinette tried to think of any other topic to discuss as she settled into her beanbag.

"So, Rogercop. How did that go? I heard you became criminal number one for a couple hours." The robots on screen began their heated duel to the tune of button smashing.

"Oh yeah, that was awful. Had to fight at least 30 police officers all at once. Not to mention the fact that I was trying not to hurt any of them the entire time."

"At least he was the least intrusive villain. Class got to continue while he was wasting his time in City Hall."

"Oh? And how was that?" The pink robot K. the black one, leading to a menu screen. Both players selected rematch.

"Ugh, it was awful. Chloe accused me of stealing this stupid bracelet her dad bought her. Then I got flustered and angry and took it out on my classmates by accusing them. After Rogercop left the whole class refused to talk to one another."

Another K.O. flashed on the screen. Marinette stretched her arms above her head.

"Not to mention that Adrien and Alya were missing for most of the day. Alya always has to go home to watch the twins when an Akuma hits, so I wasn't surprised. And Adrien texted me later to let me know he was ok, but I think the fact his dad didn't show up for parent career day really upset him."

Chat looked away from the screen and into Marinette's eyes with a strange look on his face. She didn't know what he was thinking, and the staring was starting to get to her.

"You care about Adrien? I mean, clearly you do, not trying to say you don't-"

Marinette shrugged and interrupted the boy's rambling. "He's a good friend. He hasn't been anything but nice to me or anyone else really, including Chloe. I worry about him because of it."

Chat Noir's eyebrows rose and he placed his controller on the ground. "Why are you worried about Mr. Model? I'm sure practically everything about his life is great." He didn't sound malicious, just clinical. It sounded like how someone would state an obvious fact.

Marinette laid back on the floor, staring up at her ceiling in thought. "I don't know how to describe it. It's like, he's too nice, you know? Like he's never been annoyed or angry even when he'd have every right to be."

Chat laid on the floor next to her, hands behind his head. "Maybe he's just laid back?"

"No, it doesn't feel like that. Like one time, his dad said no to a birthday party and he was just sad. Not mad at his dad, not frustrated that our plans had fallen through, just sad. And then another time, Chloe put gum on my seat and he was trying to take it off. I thought he was the one putting it on so I acted like such a jerk, but one talk was all it took for him to forgive me. To be honest I don't think he ever blamed me for that. He just took it. It's almost as if he feels he deserves to be disappointed."

"No, that's not right, not deserves, more like…" Marinette turned to face Chat, remembering who she was ranting to.

"More like he thinks disappointment is normal?" Her face scrunched up as she let the words fall off her tongue.

Chat was openly staring again, his expression thoughtful yet unreadable.

Marinette sat up and pulled at one of her pigtails. "Sorry Kitty, I didn't mean to bog you down with my worries. We can talk about something else now."

Chat looked at the ceiling again, taking a second before smirking and sitting up. "No need to apologize. It's sweet of you to care that much about him." He leaned in uncomfortably close to Marinette's face, taking in more joy the more red her face got. "I'm almost jealous. Has the princess finally given her heart to a prince?"

Marinette's brain was short circuiting. His face was probably close to a foot away and yet it felt like he was within inches of her. His body was leaning towards her, giving her space yet encroaching all the same. Nothing he was doing explicitly broke her personal boundaries, but Marinette felt caged. Her heart was racing double-time.

She was sure her face was the brightest red it had ever been.

Chat grinned and moved back as a loud K.O. called from the screen. She looked over at the TV, seeing her robot lying prone on the ground while Chat's stood triumphantly over its body. Marinette's eyes widened as her brain caught up with what the superhero had just pulled.

Her eyes lit up with indignant rage as her embarrassment peaked. "You sneaky cat! Get over here so I can kill you!" Marinette lunged at Chat, only for him to slip through her arms as he lept away.

"You wound me, Princess. I merely used all of my considerable charm to win." He moved around the room gracefully, dodging all of Marinette's half-hearted attempts to catch him. "Besides, you turn the brightest shade of red, you almost put Ladybug to shame!"

A pillow smacked him in the face.

"Ok, I deserved that."

Both of them struggled to hide their laughter from her parents downstairs.

* * *

The bell for class rang just as Marinette made it through the door. She sighed in relief before slumping in her chair, catching sight of Alya giving her double thumbs up next to her. She smiled in response before pulling out her notes for the class period.

"Hello class, is everyone ready to begin?" Ms. Bustier walked in and set her lesson plan down, giving a cheery look to her students.

"Before we get started, we need to go over our class elections. Tomorrow we will accept nominations for the positions of class president and vice-president. After that, we will have a week for you to campaign among your classmates for the vote next Friday. I want everyone to think hard about whether they want to accept the responsibility the position entails."

Ms. Bustier grabbed a stack of handouts and started to pass them along the rows. "Is there anyone who is already thinking about running?"

Chloe's hand shot up along with the rest of her. "Ms. Bustier, I'm running just like my dad. Sabrina will obviously be my vice-president."

Sabrina's face was smug as she sent glares around the room. Kim attempted to stand up, but her glare quickly put him back in his seat. No one else said a word.

Ms. Bustier tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as she nervously looked at the rest of class. "Well, the rest of you have a day to think about if you want to run against Chloe and Sabrina."

Marinette looked over at Alya in alarm. "Chloe can't be class president! She'd actually be the worst at making anything good happen. She'd probably only work to make my life even more of a nightmare around her." She whispered, panicked.

"Well, then the only option is for you to run against her, girl." Alya winked.

Marinette could feel her body freeze up. "Me? Clumsy, scatterbrained Marinette? I'm an awful choice, not to mention I'm wayyyy too busy to run-"

"Busy with what, girl? Sleeping till the last minute?" Alya hid her laugh behind a fake cough.

Marinette glared, her cheeks flooding with embarrassment. She knew she couldn't ask Alya to handle the responsibility. Being Ladybug was clearly more important than anything Marinette had going on. She also couldn't tell Alya that she split her time between following her super persona around, searching for Hawkmoth, and keeping up with her home life. It would be even worse to mention the fact that a certain kitty-themed superhero had started taking her time up as well. She sighed as she saw herself boxed in by her own web of secrets.

"Fine, I'll run. But only if you're my VP." Alya's smile widened in victory as she gave her best friend two thumbs up.

"You can count on me, Pres."

Marinette rolled her eyes and tried not to think of all the sleepless nights she was about to have.

* * *

The next day rolled around with little fanfare. Ms. Bustier stood in front of the class again with the election sheet in her hands. Chloe sat on the edge of her seat, filing her nails happily as if she had already been elected. Marinette couldn't stop her right foot from tapping, waiting for Ms. Bustier to call for nominations. She couldn't believe she was going to do this. It was stupid. She clearly didn't have the time…

"Does anyone else want to run for the role of class president?"

Would she even win? Chloe was ruthless, it might not even matter…

"Alright, I guess your class president is-"

"Marinette and I will run." "Alya and I will run."

Both girls looked at each other after their shared outburst and laughed.

Ms. Bustier's face lit up as she quickly wrote down the new candidates while Chloe's face soured. Sabrina quickly grabbed her arm to prevent her from storming towards her opponents.

"Great! Who will run as president?" The teacher asked.

"I will, Ms. Bustier." Marientte tried to speak clearly and with confidence, despite the nerves she could feel seeping into every limb.

Chloe's glare only got more furious, until she swung around to face Sabrina, ignoring the rest of the class.

"Alright. Campaigns can start as early as tomorrow. You have until Monday to convince your fellow students to vote for you."

Marinette gave a nervous smile to her classmates before sitting down, slightly comforted by the positive looks her friends were giving her.

After class, Nino and Adrien waited for them outside the classroom.

"You guys are running for the prez slot, yeah? Well you dudes have definitely got my vote." Nino held out his fist for a fist bump that Marinette matched.

"Marinette, you're going to make a great class president." Adrien spoke up.

Marinette tilted her head. "You're not voting for Chloe?"

"I know Chloe. She's interested in the title more than anything. I think you care about actually doing well more than she ever could." He shrugged. "She'll get over it and bounce back quickly. She always does."

Nino slung his arms around both girls. "So what's our plan? Pizza for lunch everyday? Movie night Fridays? Music in the libra-NO, DJ table in the library!" He lifted his arms in victory. "Dudettes, you have to make it happen."

Both girls rolled their eyes as Alya playfully jabbed at Nino's arm. "Dj tables are out of the question. We need a reasonable strategy."

Nino crossed his arms and huffed. "Well then I take my vote back."

Adrien chuckled at his best friend's pouting. "How about we ask what everyone else in the class wants and we can try to put together possible solutions to share with the whole class later?" He rested both his hands behind his head as he thought out loud.

"Adrien, that's brilliant!" Marinette exclaimed, quickly pulling out her phone. Adrien's face colored slightly.

"Alya, you can get Ivan and Mylene. Adrien, can you ask Nathaniel and Kim? Nino, you can try Rose and Juleka. Which leaves me with Max and Alix."

Alya flipped her phone around in her hand. "I'll text you what I learn." Both boys nodded in agreement as they both pulled out their phones.

"Dudes, we need a cool nickname for this, like, Operation Search and Destroy!" Nino grumbled out in a poor movie narration impression.

"How about Operation Everyday Ladybug?" Alya spoke up.

Everyone looked at her in confusion.

"Well, this is kinda like fixing things like Ladybug does with her powers, just on a normal scale. So it'll be like Marinette is our everyday Ladybug." Marinette gave an awkward smile towards her best friend.

"I don't know Alya-"

"I like it." "Me too." Both boys spoke up.

Marinette looked up at all her friends and felt warmth blossoming in her chest. It was nice to know her friends thought so highly of her, even when she doubted herself. Also the irony of having once been the real Ladybug did not escape her.

"Alright then, Operation Everyday Ladybug is a go!"

* * *

Saturday morning announced its arrival by shining a bright beam of sunlight directly on Marinette's face. She reflexively pulled her pillow over her head to protect herself, but after waiting futilely for sleep to return, she knew the damage was done. She had been awoken early on her one morning to sleep in.

She grumbled to herself as she got up, sluggishly moving off of her bed and down her ladder to her closet. She looked through a couple of her outfits, looking for something exciting that would energize her for the day. She stopped on a sundress she hadn't worn for a couple months. It wasn't really the season for it, the air was still a bit chilly off the back of winter, but she planned to be inside for the day.

Marinette perked up as she brought out the dress and laid it on her chaise lounge. It was fairly plain blue with a polka dot skirt and false buttons on the top. Holding her hand up to her chin, she tried to accessorize the outfit in her mind. She had a plain white button up that would work great under the thicker straps of the dress and some grey leggings that would give her some warmth along with the freedom to sit however she'd like.

Thoroughly taken by the joy of fashion, Marinette spent the next hour in a blissful haze. She was her own Barbie doll, able to pair hair clips to shoes or bracelets to earrings as much as she pleased. Her eyes scanned her outfit for any issues, any flaws that she should acknowledge as a hopeful fashion designer.

She was so engrossed in her fashion moment that she didn't hear her phone going off until Alya's third attempt at calling.

Marinette rushed over to her phone and quickly saw the notifications for her missed calls.

"Alya's going to kill me for not answering." She quickly dialed Alya's number and waited for her friend's wrath.

"Oh my god girl! I've been trying to reach you for decades!" Alya whisper yelled.

"I know, I know, I'm so so so so sorry. I was just thinking about my outfit… really hard and stuff." Marinette cradled her face in her free hand, trying not to think about how pathetic that sounded.

"That's such a Marinette problem. Don't worry, I forgive you for prioritizing fabric over your best friend." Marinette could feel the sass dripping from Alya's voice. She rolled her eyes and sat at her desk.

"Alright, I'm sure you didn't call me three times to comment on my fashion obsession. What's up?"

"Chloe's started her campaign."

"And how's that going?"

"She's got Jagged Stone!" Marinette fell out of her chair and her body landed solidly on the floor.

She scrambled to grab her phone again, staring at the screen with wide eyes. "What do you mean she has Jagged Stone!"

"I mean her dad got Jagged Stone to sign autographs at City Hall!"

"You mean my favorite musical artist is helping my number one enemy?"

"Apparently anyone who votes for Chloe is getting tickets to his next concert! This is not looking good for you, girl. You've got to get here fast and fix this."

"Give me 10 minutes and I'll be there. Thanks, Alya." Marinette hung up and ran to her shoes, throwing them on as she ran down the stairs.

Outside, Paris was enjoying a sunny Saturday morning. A few Parisians were taking walks under the cloudless sky, wearing light coats and scarves to protect from the occasional wind caused chill. The topic of the day was the city's recent mayor election, a landslide victory for Chloe's father, Mr. Bourgeois.

As Marinette ran past street corners and signs proclaiming the mayor's victory, she couldn't help but feel annoyance and frustration at her current predicament. She was sure she had Chloe beat in the 'actually caring about the plights of her classmates' department, but winning an election through bribery and underhanded tricks was easily a Bourgeois specialty. The only opinion Chloe actually cared about was Adrien's.

Thinking of her friend, Marinette pulled out her phone and sent a quick text.

M: Good morning, Adrien! You at Chloe's bribery session?

A: Morning, Marinette. I have fencing practice for another hour, so I probably won't make it.

M: Need me to pick up an autograph for you, or are you famous enough to already have one?

A: Ha, very funny. If you could, I'd love an autograph.

M: Consider it done.

Marinette smiled at her phone before putting it away and continuing her jog to City Hall. Seeing the building just around the corner, Marinette gave herself a minute to put together her game face. She looked at her phone, pulling up the master list her friends had made one more time, reviewing what each of her classmates had asked for.

"Rose wants comfier seats. Juleka, Ivan, and Nino want music in the library. Alix and Kim want more athletic competitions among the class. Max and Nathaniel want less restriction on bringing technology to class. Mylene just wants to have a good year with everyone as friends, and Adrien and Alya are with me no matter what."

She put her phone back in her purse before stepping through the front doors of City Hall.

The inside of City Hall was rather empty for a federal building that controlled most of the city's infrastructure, but Marinette chocked that up to it being the weekend. The front foyer was a large open space lined with pillars and two sets of grand staircases on either side. At the back Marinette found her class, lined up in front of a table where Jagged Stone sat. He looked absolutely bored to be here, lazily scrawling his autograph on a CD everytime a new kid walked up.

Marinette froze at the sight of her favorite musician. Her heart was telling her to jump in line, to try and get a couple words of praise in before she was forced to move away from the star. Her head was much quieter, trying to remind her that this was a Chloe event and wasn't worth her pride.

She was brought back to the present by an elbow in her side. "Ow! Alya, a simple hello would have worked." She glared at her friend, now standing by her side.

"Tried girl, but you were gone. Nice outfit, by the way. Almost worth having to call you three times." She held out two signed CDs. "For you and Sunshine. Figured you both want in on the action." Alya winked under her glasses.

Marinette jumped on her friend, engulfing her in a big hug. "You are the bestest friend any girl could ask for."

Alya laughed and returned the hug. "Trust me, I know."

She pulled Marinette's clinging form off her. "Now what are we going to do about getting them back on your side." She waved her hand over to their classmates, all of them gathered in a circle comparing signatures.

Marinette took in a deep breath and walked into the group, trying to keep her posture sturdy but inviting. Everyone stopped their discussion at her entrance, only a few bothering to look embarrassed.

"Are you really going to let Chloe buy your vote?" Marinette spoke, trying not to sound accusatory.

Max pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose before answering for the group. "Well, what are you offering that's better than Jagged Stone tickets?"

Marinette gripped her skirt tightly. "I can't offer you anything like concert tickets, but I've been thinking of ways to solve the issues you all have expressed." She looked around at her classmates and relaxed.

"Rose, I think cushions are a better alternative to new chairs. I can even make sure yours is pink. Ivan, Juleka, Nino; I propose we ask for an allowance for headphones in the library. Alix and Kim, while I can't make the class want to participate in all the races and activities you do, I can suggest that we cheer you on in support every time you have a competition against the other classes." The more Marinette talked, the more confident in her plans and herself she became. Alya stood behind the line of students, smiling with pride at her friend.

"Max and Nathaniel, I believe we can get an exception for electronics that can help with note taking or large projects, especially in our extracurriculars. And Mylene," She looked her last classmate in the eye.

"I think we can all be great friends as long as we're willing to listen to each other." Mylene smiled and nodded.

A new voice joined the conversation from behind Marinette.

"Now that sounds like a leader."

All of her classmates' eyes widened in amazement and it took only a moment for Marinette to figure out where she had heard that voice before. She turned sharply, thrown completely off guard by the sudden appearance of Chat Noir.

"Ki-Chat Noir! Uh… Hi… uh… What is one of Paris' superheroes doing here?" Marinette stuttered out. Her eyes were glued to Chat's giving him a guarded but curious look.

Chat smirked, his body leaning on his staff in a pose that exuded effortless cool. Marinette fought the urge to tease him for such a cliche entrance, hyper aware of the presence of Alya and the rest of her classmates behind her.

Alya who was Ladybug. Who knew Chat Noir better than she did. Who was unknown to Chat Noir, but was secretly known by Marinette and who definitely was unaware that the two had been meeting for weeks now to hang out.

Marinette felt the stress build up as she realized just how precarious her current position was. Her palms grasped at her skirt to relieve some tension and force the rest of her body to somewhat relax.

"Well, as much as I would like to say I came for a Jagged Stone CD, the truth is that there is an army of knights coming to take over City Hall and I'm gonna need you all to evacuate as quickly as possible." His posture still conveyed a cocky confidence Chat was famous for, but Marinette saw the flashes of panic in his green eyes.

Before she could respond, a set of trumpets blared outside, announcing the arrival of the knight army. Chat stiffened and moved into action, jumping straight for the door.

"I'll hold them off until Ladybug arrives. Marinette, get everyone out now!" He didn't wait for her answer before leaving the building.

Marinette turned to see the rest of her class watching her, scared and waiting for directions. Alya was incredibly fidgety, glancing out the window and back to her backpack. Chloe and Sabrina were hiding behind Mayor Bourgeois while Jagged Stone just looked bored flipping through his phone.

Marinette looked around the hall at the structures and rooms surrounding them. She had to protect her classmates while giving Alya an out to join Chat. She gave a quick glance at the large windows by the doors, only catching glimpses of Chat's black suit flitting between multiple armored foes.

She released her grip on her skirt and cleared her head, leaving behind all her anxiety and worry to focus on the situation at hand.

"Alright, we need to barricade the room as best as possible before making our attempt to escape. Ivan, Kim, Nino; I need you guys to bring over as much of the furniture as possible to hold the doors closed. Mylene, Juleka, Rose; you go to the rest of the rooms on the main floor and make sure everyone in the building meets up here to evacuate together. Stay away from the windows as best you can."

The called upon students immediately left to accomplish their designated instructions. Marinette looked around for a moment before settling on her next actions.

"Max, you and Alix take the upstairs. Stay far from the windows, but get everyone on the second floor's attention. Nathaniel, you inform everyone that arrives of the plan to evacuate. Once we're sure everyone's here, or it's impossible to wait longer we'll move. Mayor Bourgeois, do you know of a way out of City Hall that isn't through the front doors?"

The mayor stood straighter once called. He thought to himself for a moment before nodding.

"There is a back entrance that is usually reserved for staff and large deliveries. It's fairly difficult to reach that entrance if you are unaware it exists."

"Perfect. Then Alya and I will lock the windows on the first floor. I'll take the left and you take the right." Marinette nodded at Alya, hoping she would take the excuse to be alone.

Alya smiled and gave a distracted thumbs up before grabbing her backpack and running down the hall as fast as she could.

Once Marinette saw that everyone had left to do their assigned jobs, she took off towards the windows. She ran down the line, quickly and methodically checking and tightening the locks. Once she was far enough away from the main hall, she snuck a glance out at the commotion outside.

Chat Noir was fighting with a knight with a red outline to his black armor. He was taller than Chat, and clearly skilled with a sword. Surprisingly, Chat was keeping up with his advances. Marinette watched in awe as the sword fight played out in front of her. She was so entranced by the quick series of strikes that she almost forgot to record the fight.

She fumbled with the clasp of her purse, the adrenaline making her hands shake. Her phone opened to her camera app and she quickly set up to capture video. She watched nervously as Chat started to be overpowered by the knight. From behind the superhero, the green knights that had been motionlessly standing around started to move. They encroached on the cat hero, collapsing in on him as he tried to fight them all.

Marinette gasped, holding a hand up to her face in horror. Her heart felt like it stopped and all breath left her. Her body begged her to do something and yet she was too scared to move on her own. Her mind reverted back to when she was wearing the red and black suit atop the stadium again, her body freezing as she watches Chat take hit after hit, as a goal post is thrown at Alya, as the world looks to her to act when all she can think is 'I Can't'.

Here she was again, just watching as someone she cares about got hurt.

A silver pole rose out of the clump of knights, pushing them all away and allowing Marinette to breathe again in one stroke. She let out a relieved laugh as Chat stood out of the pile of bodies, looking only a little bit roughed up. Her left hand turned her phone off as the right grasped on the window handle. She didn't know what she was going to do, but she felt she had to act.

The window was slightly opened when the familiar sound of a yo-yo string zipping through the air and into the face of one of the knights caught Marinette's attention. Ladybug swung down, landing a solid kick on another knight before grabbing Chat Noir and lifting him to higher ground beyond Marinette's vision.

With Ladybug and Chat Noir out of sight, Marinette closed the window again. Even with it locked tight she refused to let go of the handle. Bottled up feelings of resentment and self-pity were rising back to the surface, reminders of how awful a heroine she had made, of how much better Alya was, pushed into the forefront of her thoughts. She clutched the handle harder, the sight of Chat disappearing under a wave of black another reminder that when she had been needed, when action was required of her, she froze. Once again she was reminded of how worthless she was when it came to saving anybody.

She was brought back to the present by a large thud in the direction of the front door. Marinette shook her head and took in three calming breaths, leaving her dark thought behind for later. Right now, she had people counting on her and she wouldn't fail a second time.

Making her way to the entrance, Marinette first became aware of the larger crowd that had gathered. A dozen or more people were clumped together, whispering among each other and looking towards the mayor for guidance. She saw her classmates grouped together around the barrier formed against the front door. The large thud echoed again, causing the doors to jerk against their constraints.

"Alright, it's time to leave. Everyone, follow me." Mayor Bourgeois called from the front of the crowd. Quickly and quietly the crowd started towards a hall that led deeper into City Hall.

Another thud sounded as the front door jostled, sending the lighter of the students to the floor. The class looked at Marinette then between the door and the crowd leaving, indecision clear on all of their faces.

"Let's go, everyone. We've done the best we can." Marinette helped Rose off of the ground.

"But Alya isn't back yet." Nino's voice barely registered over the sound of another impact against the door.

Marinette looked at the door and grimaced. The barricade wasn't going to hold for much longer and only she was aware that Alya wasn't going to show up anytime soon.

"Don't worry, I'll stay behind and wait for Alya." Marinette answered without thinking. She started to usher the other students away, making sure they caught up to the main group heading for the exit.

"Dudette, I am not leaving you and Alya behind." Nino stood against the door, pushing with all his might as the last of the students disappeared into the back hall. His face was determined, even as the door cracked behind him.

"Nino, now is not the time to be heroic. I'm smaller, am better at hiding, and I know where I'm going. You need to join the others." Nino's face remained unchanged, determined to stay and wait for his friend.

"Nino, don't make me worry about you too. Please?"

His face fell. He looked at the door cracking behind him and back to Marinette, her eyes desperately pleading for him to leave with everyone else. He took a step away from the door.

"5 minutes. If she doesn't show up in 5 minutes, you run. Got it?" Marinette nodded.

"Promise."

Nino gave her a serious nod before running after the crowd.

Once Nino was out of sight, Marinette took off towards the second floor. Through the windows she could see the army of knights climbing one another to get higher up the building. The door cracked again, this time allowing spears to poke through the newly formed hole.

Marinette ran through the upper floor looking for any way to get up higher in the building. She wasn't one hundred percent sure why she was making her way closer to trouble instead of to safety with the others. Her thoughts ran back and forth between getting more information on Hawkmoth, protecting Alya's identity, and just making sure her superhero friends were ok. But that worry was silly, she knew they were fine. They were always fine. They would be fine.

Right?

Marinette shrieked and ducked at the sound of a nearby window smashing. Her adrenaline spiked as she crawled into the nearest door. The room she found herself in wasn't much, just a small office with a false fireplace. Marinette looked around desperately for a place to hide, but the only furniture in the room was a desk and two chairs, none of which were open enough for her to hide under. The sounds of metal footsteps drew nearer, each step in time with the erratic beating of her heart. She spotted a set of metal pokers for the fireplace and grabbed one. She held it to her chest as she stood by the door, ready to bolt or fight the minute the door opened.

The footsteps moved by the door quickly and left just as fast, not even pausing by her door. Marinette let out a relieved breath. Once the footsteps sounded far enough away, she peeked through the door. Seeing no one, she stepped out, taking the iron poker with her. She followed the direction the knights moved, trying to stay as quiet as possible as she moved through the halls.

At the end of one of the halls was a window that overlooked the main room's rooftop. On the roof were both of Paris' superheroes fighting against waves of black and green knights. Marinette pulled out her phone to record the fight, trying to keep herself as small as possible so no one would notice her presence.

Ladybug was fighting the main red and black knight up on the top of the roof, moving around and defending the French flag. Chat Noir was fighting closer to her hiding spot, keeping the other knights from interfering with Ladybug's battle. Marinette kept focus on the main villain, holding him in her lens as he stepped around Ladybug with finesse.

Ladybug seemed to get a hit in to start her counter attack when Marinette's view was blocked. She cursed to herself before looking up into a glowing green hole where eyes should have been. She shrieked and landed on her back, pushing herself as far away from the knight as she could get. Her back hit a wall and her body began to shake as she realized she was trapped.

Marinette held up the metal poker still clutched in her shaking hands, hoping it would keep the knight away. The dark figure stalked forward unperturbed, lifting its spear up. It raised its arm to thrust the spear forward, and Marinette could only close her eyes and hold herself. She only hoped being stabbed wouldn't hurt as much as it looked like it did.

A crash through the window caused her eyes to fly open as a silver staff rammed into the knight, smashing it against the opposite wall.

"Marinette! Are you ok? It didn't hurt you, did it?" Chat's frantic and panicked voice called from just outside the window.

Marinette took a second to process what had just happened. "Yeah… yeah I think I'm fine."

Chat stepped into the hall and grabbed his staff, scanning the area for any other threats. Once he deemed the area to be safe enough, he turned to Marinette with frustration written plainly across his face.

"What are you doing here? I told you to evacuate everyone!"

Marinette felt herself recoil at his tone. She had to think up a lie, had to hide her involvement with the miraculouses, but everything in her wanted to just hug him and feel safe again. She swallowed before setting up her walls.

"I was looking for a friend. I asked her to check on civilians on the upper floors but I didn't see her return." She felt no relief when his face softened at her lie.

"Marinette that's…Just don't do it again. Find a room and hide until this is over." He looked tired. Marinette's heart ached.

He turned to leave when Marinette had a horrible realization. If Ladybug figured out how close she had been to getting seriously hurt again, everything she worked to build up would be forfeit. She knew Alya, and once she knew how close to the action Marinette was, she would force her to quit the Ladyblog. She wouldn't let Marinette out of her sight until she was in a safe spot when an akuma attacked. Marinette would be practically babysat anytime she would be near danger and Marinette couldn't learn more about Hawkmoth and protect Alya if Alya was too busy protecting her.

"Don't tell Ladybug I was here." She called out to Chat.

He stiffened, his body frozen between jumping into battle again and staying with her.

"Please. Please don't tell Ladybug I was here."

His ears flicked, his body moved away from the window, and he turned to face her. Marinette was not ready for the deep anger that was on his face.

"That's what you're worried about? Not that you were needlessly in danger again. Not that you almost got stabbed. You're worried about Ladybug knowing you were here?" His voice was only slightly raised above the sound of fighting outside, but Marinette heard him as if he was the only sound in the room.

"I'm fine, Chat." She tried to keep her voice even.

"You almost got stabbed!"

"And you saved me."

"How many times do I have to save you before you treat this seriously?" He snapped.

Marinette stiffened and felt anger start to replace the guilt she had been feeling before. "What do you mean? I do treat this seriously!"

Chat rolled his eyes. "Sure you do, that's why I've saved you from _over five_ different akuma attacks. Because you treat them so _seriously_." The snark and sarcasm rolled off his tongue as easy as his puns.

Marinette felt her face heat up with indignation. "I didn't ask to be kidnapped by an akuma! And it isn't my fault another was stalking me for a date!"

"Then why are you always around? Every time an akuma strikes and you're there. Bubbler, Horrificator, Timebreaker, Stoneheart! Are you looking for ways to get hurt? Because you sure are great at finding danger!" Chat practically growled out the last line.

Marinette felt tears welling in her eyes, betraying the conflicting emotions playing out in her head. Deep down she knew she purposely got more involved with akumas more than any other civilian. But that was because she was hunting Hawkmoth and trying to stop the real villain that was causing all that pain in the first place. She was doing everyone a service! Sacrificing her sleep, her social life, and even herself if it meant keeping her friends alive from that monster.

And no one knew so they all just thought she was some stupid shallow girl hunting for some sort of thrill.

Her anger overwhelmed the part of her that was aware Chat didn't know what she was really doing. Today's emotions had been too much, and she was seeing red.

"I'm not gonna take being lectured by a boy in a cat suit who uses _puns_ as a defense mechanism!" She spat, forgetting everything but Chat and herself.

Chat recoiled, his face only getting harsher. "Oh you've figured me out, have you? Solved the man behind the mask? Please tell me, Sherlock, what else is wrong with me since you know everything?"

"I don't need to know everything to know you're desperate for attention!"

"Oh, _I_ need attention?"

"You certainly act like it. 'Oh my lady, let me take the hits for you, I don't mind. Everyone, watch me trade witty words with the akumas aren't I so funny? Oh princess, has a prince taken your heart? I like making random girls flustered, **it really boosts my ego**!'" Marinette practically yelled as she mocked in a poor attempt at sounding like Chat.

He opened his mouth to retort, but closed it without saying anything. The minute he turned away, all of her anger left Marinette, leaving her with only the empty feelings of guilt and horror. Suddenly it was like she was in control again, as if her frustration had taken over and she had just watched as some other Marinette had tore into her Kitty.

She took a step forward, unsure as to what she was supposed to do, but knowing that she had to do something. Chat flinched and without a word launched himself back into the battle against the knights.

Marinette just watched silently from the broken window, not bothering to hide or record. She just stood and followed the two colorful figures as they fought off the mass of black. A lucky charm was called. A sword was broken. A butterfly was purified.

And Chat never came back.

Marinette slowly made her way back down to the main hall. Everything was fixed, back to a point when Chloe was the worst thing she would deal with today. People started filtering in again from both sides of the building, some returning to work and some leaving from it. Marinette got to the bottom of the stairs before being surrounded by all her classmates.

"Wow Marinette, you were so cool!"

"You really took charge."

"I'm totally going to vote for you as class pres!"

"How could I not vote for you after Chat Noir's endorsement?"

The mention of Chat Noir caused Marinette to flinch, but she recovered her composure quickly. "Thank you, that's really sweet, but it was the fact that we all worked together that got us through this. Don't sell yourselves short."

After a couple minutes more of praise, Marinette excused herself and started the short walk home. She saw a text from Alya, an excuse for her disappearance, and a text from Adrien asking if she got home ok after the akuma attack. She smiled at Adrien's concern, texting back a quick reply before entering her home.

Finally seeing her bed, she let go of all her control and just cried.

* * *

Sunday went by in silence. Marinette stayed in her room and worked on her fashion projects that had long been abandoned in favor of more Hawkmoth time. Every stitch was another attempt to forget what she had said, every spool of thread an attempt to alleviate her guilt, every prick on her finger a curse on whoever had thrust her into this awful position of lying to her friends, even if that person was ultimately herself.

At the end of the day, she had a jacket filled with regret.

Monday came with the thunderous applause of her classmates as she won the class election. Marinette was torn in half, partially proud of how far she had come as a person and yet so aware of her own flaws that she couldn't embrace that progress.

Both Alya and Adrien were unusually quiet. Marinette convinced herself that was probably her fault too.

And then it was Tuesday. Marinette stood in front of the TVi news building dressed in her most professional blazer and skirt, her hair tied into a neat bun atop her head. She gripped her clipboard in an iron grasp as she made her way up to the front doors, regretting letting Alya talk her into this.

Apparently, Ladybug needed to answer some questions and set some matters straight. Obviously Alya wasn't going to be able to interview herself, so she had asked Marinette under the excuse that Ladybug only had one night available for the interview for the Ladyblog, but Alya was completely booked that night. As a good friend, Marinette couldn't find it in herself to argue for someone else to conduct the interview. If this is what Alya needed to relieve some Ladybug stress, Marinette wasn't going to prevent her from using her own platform to do it.

That left her sitting in a rented out studio, nervous and uncomfortable under the harsh spotlights. She looked down at the clipboard in her hands and sighed. Alya had written all the questions beforehand, all Marinette had to do was keep up polite conversation and ask what was written.

A knock on a window above the studio alerted Marinette to her guest's arrival. She gave a thumbs up to the hired help behind the camera. Ladybug soared into the studio, performing a quick flip before landing on her seat on the other side of the stage. Marinette stood and gave a polite, but excited clap at her entrance.

"Welcome, Ladybug. Thank you so much for your time. I'm sure it is very valuable considering you use it to literally save the lives of everyone in Paris." Marinette and Ladybug both sat down in their respective chairs.

"No need to thank me. I'm happy to give back to this amazing city." Ladybug gave a cheesy smile to the camera while tucking a strand of her reddish brown hair behind her ear.

"So, our first question is probably the most asked one. How did you get your powers?"

Ladybug pretended to ponder the question. "Well, for safety reasons I cannot disclose the whole truth around our powers. What I can say is that they were a gift. I was born without them like everyone else, but when the need for a hero arose I was chosen to use them."

Marinette nodded, fully expecting that answer. To be honest, she didn't think very many would believe the truth anyway.

"Do they give you any ladybug side effects? Do you hunger for grass and bugs?" Marinette couldn't help her smile at the absurd question.

Ladybug laughed. "Oh no, I eat hamburgers and macaroons just like everyone else. I don't think I've experienced any adverse side effects to being a superhero."

"Is Chat Noir your sidekick?" Marinette tried to remain passive as she read his name.

"Chat Noir is as important as I am when it comes to saving Paris. Not only is he stronger than I am when it comes to straight combat, but he also is essential to keeping me focused on what matters. He is my partner and my other half."

Her stomach dropped, then Marinette read the next question and felt it drop even more. She didn't let it show on her face, maintaining the cheerful reporter vibe that had been asked of her. "Our next question is a fan favorite. Are you and Chat Noir dating?"

"I'm sorry to disappoint everyone online, but Chat Noir and I are not dating. We're partners, and I care very much about him, but we are completely platonic." The superheroes demeanor was comfortable and elegant, giving off no indication of her real thoughts. Alya must have really put a lot of work into her responses.

Marinette couldn't help but notice how she felt much lighter knowing that Alya had no feelings for Chat Noir.

"Would either of you date a civilian?" Marinette's eyes widened as she caught on to what she was saying. She was so focused on her relief that she hadn't realized that she had gone off script.

Ladybug also seemed thrown by the question, but she quickly recovered. "I'll be honest. Superheroes should not date. Too many things can go wrong. They could find out our secret identities. Hawkmoth can use them to get to us. They could distract us from making tough decisions that affect all of Paris."

She looked at the camera. "So anyone dreaming of winning Chat Noir's or my heart should let that feeling go. We appreciate not having to deal with akumatized fans because we are forced to reject them." She let out a playful giggle but Marinette could work up a smile.

"Oh, final question then. Is there anything you would like to say to the people of Paris?" Her words were hollow, but fortunately Ladybug took this as her queue to stand up and face the camera, dragging all the attention on her.

"My fellow Parisians, while Chat Noir and I love being people you all depend on, I want to remind you that we are only human." Marinette looked up a Ladybug with curiosity. "While we seem invincible when we are fighting Hawkmoth, we hurt the same way you do. Words hurt us the same as they hurt you." A dagger lodged itself into Marinette's chest.

"Even if you disagree with us, even if you hate us, remember that we sit on those words just like you do." The dagger twisted.

"Our job can be very stressful. We risk our lives every week to keep you safe, and we do that best when we're not doubting ourselves." Marinette couldn't breathe.

"So please, if you see us while we're working, be kind. And if you can't be kind, just don't say anything. Thank you and have a safe night." Ladybug maintained her civil attitude, but Marinette could hear the unspoken threat.

The cameras shut off and the harsh spotlights dimmed. Marinette tried to compose herself before making the quickest exit possible.

"Thank you for doing this, Marinette. It's unfortunate that Alya couldn't be here to do the interview, but I think you did a great job." Ladybug held out her hand for a handshake.

Marinette nodded politely and reciprocated the gesture. "Thank you for choosing our blog to host." She smiled, hoping Ladybug would ignore the tightness of her expression.

Ladybug did give her a curious look, but any further interaction was halted by the sound of beeping.

"Oh, sorry to just finish and run, but I have to go. Thank you again for doing the interview." Ladybug gave a friendly salute before jumping through the same window she arrived through.

Marinette let out a relieved sigh as she was finally able to collect the footage and go home. She sent the video to Alya and then laid on her bed, staring at the ceiling as the familiar sensation of tears returned.

Alya really was the best friend anyone could ask for. If Marinette was right, she set up this interview because she saw Chat Noir was hurting. A whole interview to tell whoever made her partner doubt himself that she wasn't going to tolerate that sort of treatment. A whole interview to let him know how important he was to her.

If Marinette was right, it was all her fault.

* * *

Wednesday night was cold, but Marinette refused to move from her spot on her balcony. Outside, Paris was quiet. Everyone else had made the smart decision to head to bed, but Marinette couldn't sleep. Not until she knew If Chat would show.

She clutched her blanket around her arms as a violent breeze chilled her to the bone. She could feel the redness of her cheeks and nose, could feel the cold seeping into her toes through her socks, but she endured. It was as if the moment she moved from her silent vigil, a spell would be broken and she would be forced to wallow in her guilt forever.

But time ticked on regardless of her feelings for it, and before long it was midnight. Marinette sighed, her breath a white cloud in this chill.

"I guess he really won't show." She shivered in her blanket, tired and cold and miserable.

"I really wasn't, but then you seemed determined to give yourself hypothermia so I figured I had to save you from yourself."

Marinette whipped around to face Chat. He sat perched on the railing of her balcony, one leg hanging over the side. He looked like his usual self, but Marinette could see the redness creeping on the sides of his eyes. She was sure he could see the same in hers.

"I'd deserve it, for what I said." She whispered, scared that if she talked too loud he would jump away.

He shrugged. "I don't think anything you said was that bad."

Marinette looked down at the floor. "Chat I…"

"Nope. Not gonna let you speak."

Marinette looked back up at his face, scared but accepting of whatever punishment he had decided for her.

"I'm not going to lie. What you said… hurt. It hurt a lot." He took a shaky breath. "But I also remember what I said to you, and it wasn't much better."

"I blamed you for being Hawkmoth's victim. I did it because I was scared. I saw you about to get skewered and all I could think of was how I could have let that happen. I was so angry at myself and Hawkmoth and then that became anger at you because if you were anywhere else I could pretend you were safe. If you were anywhere else, you weren't in danger."

He looked up at the stars and sighed. "But that isn't true is it? We'll never know where every danger is. Hawkmoth could have been waiting outside City Hall for stragglers and I'd never know. I wanted the comfort of believing you were safe and when I was forced to see that you weren't I took my anger out on you."

He looked back at Marinette, his green eyes holding hers sorrowfully. "I'm so sorry I put that on you. Blaming you for Hawkmoth's actions. Please forgive me?"

Marinette stared, open gaped at the superhero. "Of course, I forgive you." She took a step forward. "It hurt me because you weren't wrong. I have been forcing myself closer to the akumas. I've been getting footage for the Ladyblog." Marinette cursed her inability to tell Chat the whole truth. "I got close because I had been asked to get what I could. Then I got close because I got sucked up in the action, in the fights. And now… now I feel like I have to make sure you're ok."

"You were totally right that all I'm doing is endangering myself more, but to me… I just wanted to know my friends are safe. That I wasn't going to wait one Wednesday night for you to never show up."

"But that doesn't excuse how I responded. I was angry and hurt, but I should never have attacked you like that. I forgive you, because you deserve it…. But me?"

She looked up at Chat, tears starting to well up in her eyes. "Can you forgive me for being an awful person and taking out my hurt on someone who was justifiably worried for me?"

He smiled a soft small smile and opened his arms. Marinette could feel the tears break through her best attempts to hold them in. They streamed down her face as she let her blanket fall to the floor, launching herself into Chat Noir's arms as she sobbed.

She could feel him shake around her, both relishing in their friendship they had thought broken, both allowing pent up emotions to be free. They clung to each other like a lifeline, holding on until their muscles and bodies begged to relax. Between them a cacophony of 'I'm sorry' and 'It's ok' echoed in both voices, both feeling the guilt of their actions and yet both wishing to alieve the other's guilt. They rested against each other for what seemed like hours, just relishing in the relief that forgiveness had given.

Marinette let go first, her body reminding her that she hadn't had a restful night's sleep since friday.

"You know, Ladybug really cares for you. Set up a whole interview with Alya just to let me know how much of a jerk I was." She let out a small giggle and Chat joined.

"Sorry about that. She kept questioning me after the Darkblade fight and I finally told her a civilian had got to me. Didn't tell her it was you though."

Marinette grabbed his gloved hand and squeezed it. "Thank you, Kitty."

He held on to her hand, preventing her from moving away. "I also… never got to tell you how cute your outfit was. Almost couldn't take the anger seriously when you were dressed in such cute polka-dots." He winked and Marinette's face turned red.

"That's not fair, Kitty. You always make it so hard to talk when you compliment me like that." She whispered, turning to face anywhere but at his adoring stare.

He slipped his hand out of hers, climbing on top of the rail. She turned back to watch as he got ready to leave, saddened by the shortness of their visit, but ready to allow her body the rest it craved. He moved forward, but stopped before he leapt onto the next rooftop.

"Hey Marinette." His voice was soft and nervous.

"Yeah, Chat?"

"The first time we met, you were running across a road to save someone. You were so unaware of the danger to yourself that when I saved you, all you could think about was the safety of your friend. That's how you've been this entire time, selfless and creative and kind. And being with you, watching this beautiful girl desperately try to save someone despite just being one person, watching as she proves again and again how far she is willing to go to help and to protect, I have never been more in love." Marinette felt her heart stop and her breath catch.

"Even with you angry at me. Even with me angry at you. Nothing about that feeling changed. If anything, it only made everything hurt more." He gave a weak chuckle.

"I know what Ladybug said last night… about superheroes and love. And she's right, just like she always is. But…" He gave Marinette one last look, full of adoration. "but there's only ever been one princess for me. Just… just wanted you to know that." And he leapt into the night before Marinette had a chance to gather herself and respond.

She silently gathered her dropped blanket and headed down into her bedroom. She carefully got under her blankets and grabbed her stuffed black cat, cradling him to her chest.

With a new warmth in her heart, Marinette had the best sleep of her life.


	6. I Guess I Believe in Love Now

"When the prince kisses the princess it breaks the curse. Can anyone tell me why?" Ms. Bustier called out to the class. "Rose?"

"Because love conquers hate!" The peppy blonde girl cried while hugging onto Juleka's arm.

Alya rolled her eyes next to Marinette, nudging her before sticking her tongue out in a mocking manner. Marinette let out a quiet chuckle before looking down at her notebook, the current page blank. Her stomach rolled with butterflies.

Ever since Chat's confession on her roof, Marinette hadn't felt normal. Everywhere she looked that word was plastered on every wall. It was on menus, on billboards, on tv. She could swear that everyone was talking about it more, using it in almost every conversation. The fact that today was Valentine's day was not helping matters.

Normally she wouldn't be so sensitive to the 'L' word, but now the sound of it caused her body to shake and her stomach to churn. Marinette desperately wished for it to stop. She wanted to pay attention to Ms. Bustier's lesson of folktale's literary structure. She didn't want to be thinking about a certain boy in black spandex leaning over her sleeping body, ready to break a curse with a kiss.

Her only consolation was that her friends seemed similarly distracted today. Alya could care less about love stories. Not enough mystery, she had told Marinette. Nino was trying his best to look like he wasn't sleeping through class. He kept nodding off only to jolt awake moments later.

Adrien seemed the most distracted, writing something only to scribble it out and write something else. Marinette couldn't see what he was writing from across the aisle, but it had piqued her curiosity. It also seemed to have attracted the teacher's attention.

"Adrien? Can you repeat what I just said?" Ms. Bustier gave a warm smile from in front of his desk.

Adrien seemed unphased as he tilted his head up and responded. "Fairytales usually end with a prince kissing a princess to remove the curse, proving that love conquers hate."

Ms. Bustier seemed pleasantly surprised but moved on with the rest of her lecture quickly. Marinette couldn't help her awed look at Adrien. She knew he was skilled at academics, and at multitasking, but to see him able to absorb the lecture while focusing so intently on whatever he was writing was something else entirely.

Soon the bell rang and everyone was packing up to leave. Marinette breathed out a sigh of relief now that her torture seemed over.

"I know, so cliche, right?" Alya laughed beside her. "Who really believes in kissing curing anything?"

Alya leaned in and started making kissy noises. Marinette laughed at her friend's antics before lifting her bag. She started to make her way to the classroom door before she noticed Adrien and Nino still in their seats.

"Hey guys. What's that?" Marinette tried to lean over and read Adrien's writing.

As if panicked, Adrien pulled his paper to his chest, looking at Marinette with a twinge of fear in his eyes.

"Please don't look." He spoke rapidly, his voice slightly higher than usual.

Marinette backed up, a little confused and saddened by his reaction. Nino made a dismissive motion with his hand before addressing the girls.

"Don't worry about him. He won't let anyone look at whatever he's writing. I've been trying for days." Nino lifted his hat and started to gather his thing into his backpack.

"So even Sunshine has secrets, eh?" Alya joked.

Adrien's cheeks filled with color, but he didn't loosen his hold on the paper. Alya and Nino began walking out the door while Marinette waited for Adrien to collect his things.

"I won't look, but what are you writing? You seem very focused on it." Marinette spoke up.

Adrien's green eyes pierced her own for a moment. Marinette tried not to fidget at the uncomfortable stare. He glanced at the retreating backs of their other two friends before making up his mind.

"I told a girl I… liked her the other day. I didn't really give her time to respond though." Adrien looked at the table, refusing to meet Marinette's surprised gaze.

Marinette took a moment to process the information she'd just heard and ignored how similar it sounded to her own situation.

"You… like someone? Is she in our class?" Marinette went through all their female classmates in her head.

Rose and Juleka were in a relationship already, eliminating them from the running. Mylene was out for the same reason. Alix was a bit rough, but maybe Adrien liked that in a girl? It could also have been Sabrina, though trying to talk to her without Chloe was like trying to remove a leech. It could be…

_Oh God no, please tell me he isn't in love with Chloe._

Marinette's face shifted in horror and Adrien immediately started to clarify. "No! Nope, she's not in our class. She's a friend from… work." He stumbled over his explanation.

Marinette felt a bit of relief knowing her friend hadn't fallen for Chloe. "So what are you writing then? A Valentine?"

"I don't really know." Adrien's eyes betrayed the sadness his smile was trying to cover. "My L... My father won't really allow me to have a relationship, so it's not like we could do anything even if she returns my feelings. I didn't even mean to tell her. I just…"

"You just felt like you had to?" Adrien nodded.

"I don't want to string her along, or make her wait for me. I just want to let her know I'm thinking about her and that I was serious about my feelings."

Marinette held her head in her hands, thinking hard about Adrien's love problem. She felt incredibly bad for her friend. This was just another limitation fame and his father had put on his life.

"Why don't you write her an explanation? Just be honest. If she's in the same industry I'm sure she'll understand what you're talking about. Then you can discuss if she feels similarly and you can make a plan together." Marinette felt bad that she couldn't think of anything more clever. "If you do need an excuse for your father, I'll happily lie for you. Just give me a heads up and I'll convince him you're actually with me skydiving off the coast of Japan or something."

Adrien let out a laugh and a real smile took over his features. "Thanks Marinette, but I think I'd be in more trouble for skydiving than if I hid a girlfriend."

Marinette smiled and shrugged. "Fine, we'll be at an astrophysics seminar. Much more boring."

Adrien chuckled and shoved the paper into his backpack before getting up to leave. He gave an odd smirk before turning the conversation to her. "So how about you? Do you have a Valentine?"

Marinette froze as the butterflies in her stomach returned. "Me? Nah. Nope. Haha." She didn't sound the least bit convincing even to herself.

Adrien just continued to smile and steered the conversation away from Valentine's day as a whole.

At the front of the school, the two parted ways. Marinette made her way to her home with nothing but her thoughts for company. True to form, they circled around one complicated topic.

Did she like Chat Noir? Yes. She'd been heartbroken when she thought she had ruined their friendship. It was as if a part of her had been removed and a void had been all that remained.

Did she love Chat Noir? That was a harder question.

No. The answer should be no. He was a superhero she'd befriended and it should be left at that. She didn't even know his real name, for god's sake. How could she love someone she didn't even really know?

She made her way up to her bedroom and flopped on her bed, her backpack discarded at the door. If the answer was so easy, why did she keep asking herself the same question? If they were just friends, why was she agonizing over nothing?

She blamed her stupid Kitty. He just had to say such nice things to her, complimenting her outfit and then her character before leaving with such a sickeningly sweet line.

_There's only ever been one princess for me._

Marinette grabbed a pillow and held it to her face as she thrashed around on her bed like an excited fangirl. She bit into the cloth and let out a frustrated scream, trying to release whatever was coiling inside her. Frustration? Confusion? Joy? Lo-

NOT THE 'L' WORD.

She couldn't be in love anyway. He was a superhero. Ladybug had explicitly stated that superheroes shouldn't date. And she was right! It would be horribly unsafe, incredibly reckless, stupidly stupid.

Marinette groaned to herself. It would be stupid to go an fall in love with a man you don't really know who also happens to be a superhero. That's why she was now 100% sure she had gone ahead and done it anyway.

She was in love.

She was in love with Chat Noir.

She, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, was in love with Chat Noir.

She bit her pillow again, but this time she let out an excited scream. The butterflies that had inhabited her stomach burst forth as a sensation of elation and giggles. Her emotions became a flurry inside her, barely contained in her body.

After a moment, the initial wave died down and reality set in again. Just because she had accepted her feelings for Chat didn't mean they could suddenly become a couple and live happily ever after. He was still a superhero who had to hide his identity. She was still looking for Hawkmoth in secret. The logic of the situation did nothing to stop her heart from skipping gleefully.

A text tone on her phone broke her out of her thoughts. A message from Chloe gleamed on her screen.

"Chloe? When has Chloe ever messaged me?"

Curious, Marinette opened the message and gasped in shock. Chloe had sent the entire class a picture of Kim, wet and covered in garbage on one knee. He had a gemstone brooch in one hand, his face one of utter dejection.

"Oh no Chloe. What did you do?" Marinette muttered to herself before getting out of bed and heading downstairs.

Tom and Sabine were busy with the Valentine's rush, grabbing money in one hand while handing out candy apples in the other. Marinette put on an apron and went to work easing their load, handing out candy apples so her mother could use both hands. The work kept her busy and allowed her to just bask in the glow of her feelings without lingering on all the negatives that came with it.

An hour into work, the crowds started to thin and Marinette's phone vibrated. She hung up her apron and took a break outside. Checking her phone, she noticed the vibration came from a news alert. Trepidation filled her as she opened the accompanying video.

"This is Nadja Chamack with the news. It seems a new villain is terrorizing Paris. A flying archer named Dark Cupid is shooting magical arrows at nearby citizens. Ladybug and Chat Noir have arrived at the scene, but it seems Chat Noir has been hit by one of these arrows and is attacking Ladybug!"

Marinette gasped as the camera showed footage of Chat swiping his staff at Ladybug, his lips a coal black. She bolted from her spot and headed towards the street in the video, hoping both heroes were still somewhere nearby.

Nerves and fear powered her as she ran through the streets, her legs quickly throbbing with exhaustion. Her lungs burned with slightly chilled air. The streets all seemed to blend together as she made left turns and right. She didn't even know why she had to go.

She didn't have a plan. She knew she had to help, but how? Chat had to be under some sort of magical control for him to fight Ladybug. So the real question was how to break that spell?

_When the prince kisses the princess it breaks the curse._

Marinette shook her head. True loves kiss was a stupid gimmick from fairytales, hardly an instructional guide for real villains. Then again, supervillains were only supposed to be in fairytales too and yet here they are. Marinette rolled her eyes at her own train of thought. First she accepted she was probably in love with Chat Noir and now she was entertaining kisses as an acceptable battle strategy. Alya would never let her live this down if she knew.

A sharp smack of metal on brick alerted her to fighting just up ahead. She tilted her head up and watched as Ladybug soared overhead, the black form of Chat Noir following her. He reached forward to claw at her, but a yo-yo deflected his attack. Marinette's heart stopped. His face was twisted, angry. This was not the Chat who had confessed to her only a couple days ago.

The battle continued without pause, a flurry of attacks from Chat met only with defensive maneuvers from Ladybug. Marinette picked up a small chunk of brick from the debris that settled in their wake. If she could distract Chat, perhaps she could get him to come to her.

Then what? Was she really going to bet her life on a fairytale kiss?

Marinette sighed. She had already accepted she was stupid for loving a superhero. Why not also be stupid enough to believe in true love's kiss? She readied herself.

Ladybug threw out her yo-yo in a feint maneuver before diving off the roof. The minute she looked away, Marinette took her shot. The piece of brick sailed into the air arcing over the edge of the roof. It landed without much noise several feet behind Chat Noir's body. He didn't seem to notice.

Marinette felt both relief and frustration. "Shoot."

Chat's ears perked up at her voice. Marinette squeaked and covered her mouth, but the damage had been done. Chat's body, tense and wild, sharply turned in her direction. His pupils focused on her face and a wicked smile took over. He jumped and landed in front of her.

"Oh look, it's my least favorite person. How awful of you to stop by." He spoke smoothly and with malice.

Marinette took a step back, her body instinctively flinching at his predatory demeanor. His movements could only be described as stalking, his lithe form taking calculated steps as he circled her.

"I thought taking Ladybug's Miraculous would be the best thing I did today, but ruining your pitiful smile sounds so much more fun. Then you'll understand how much I hate you." His claws cut through her hair ties, releasing her hair from her pigtails.

Anger built up in Marinette's body. How dare Hawkmoth mess with her Kitty. Marinette focused on that anger, ignoring the instinctual fear that had built up. She tensed her body, waiting for his strike.

Chat Noir was a seasoned fighter who would win any outright fight between a civilian and himself. In terms of strength, Marinette had no chance. Fortunately for Marinette, she happened to be the only civilian in Paris that spent hours at night watching and rewatching their superheroes fight. She may not have been looking for it, but she had experience reading their moves.

Marinette was probably the only person in Paris who knew that Chat always swiped with his right hand first.

Seeing him move, she started her counter attack. She leaned forward, using her left hand to catch his right arm while reaching behind his head with her right. His eyes widened, surprised at the move. She gave a victorious grin before grabbing the back of his head and bringing him in for a kiss.

She couldn't help herself from closing her eyes. At first, the feeling of his lips on hers caused her heart to flutter and her thoughts to silence. They were soft and warm, but motionless. As time passed, the fear crept in. He didn't move out of her arms. He didn't move at all. She cautiously opened her eyes and stepped away from him, holding her breath.

Slowly the black disappeared from his lips and his eyes opened. Marinette smiled as he looked around clearly confused.

"Uh, Marinette… What happened? I was with Ladybug and then…" He motioned between the two of them.

"You got hit by one of Dark Cupid's arrows. I think they have something to do with reversing feelings, but I'm not entirely sure." Chat nodded at her explanation.

"So how'd you break me out? It could be important to know in case Ladybug-"

"NO!" Marinette covered her mouth after her outburst, her cheeks immediately burst into flame.

Chat looked at her, his brow furrowed with a mixture of worry and curiosity. "What did you have to do?"

Marinette fidgeted and grabbed one of her locks of hair, rolling it in between two fingers. "I may have… kissed you?" Her voice raised at the end as if she had asked a question.

She tried to look anywhere but the boy in front of her. Her embarrassment was only heightened by the realization that this was the first time she had seen Chat since he had confessed. Her awareness of her own feelings made her shake with nerves. She finally gained the courage to look Chat in the eye.

He looked stunned, his cheeks colored in the same bright shade of red she assumed hers were. His eyes were wide and his mouth agape. He took a moment before shaking his head and regaining some composure.

"Wh-Why would you do that?" He stuttered out.

The question hung in the air. Marinette knew what he was asking. She wished she had more time to figure out her words, to think up some perfect way to return his confession. But looking at his face, watching him try to hide his emotional turmoil behind a cool look while his body betrayed him, something about now seemed perfect.

Hiding a grin, she took a couple steps forward, stepping right up to his chest. He tried to move back, clearly unsure about her motives, but she grabbed onto the bell at his neck, freezing him in place. Suddenly Marinette understood his need to tease her. Her confidence soared at every blush and every stammer.

Tilting her head up so they were only inches apart, she gathered up her courage for the finishing blow.

"They say in fairytales that the prince's kiss breaks the curse because of love. I figured the perhaps the same is true of a Purrincess's love?"

Marinette couldn't keep her smile off her face as she watched Chat's expression move from nervous to elated. His smile was blinding, and Marinette was about to tell him as much when he closed the distance between them and silenced her with a kiss.

This kiss was so much better than their first. Marinette was lost between the feeling of his arms gripping her in a tight embrace and the feeling of her heart beating in staccato. His lips moved in tandem with hers. Her fingers laced themselves in his hair, tugging him closer. The only thing that Marinette could think was that she wanted more. More of this feeling, more of his touch, more of him.

Chat pulled away first. Both of them were panting and grinning, but he had to take a step back.

"I have to go." His voice was filled with hesitation.

All at once Marinette remembered the akuma attack. A new wave of embarrassment flooded her.

"Right. You have a job to do." Marinette took a deep breath and tried to settle her rapid heart rate.

"I'll come visit you tonight?" Chat moved to touch her, but held himself back instead settling on fiddling with his baton.

Marinette took the moment to sneak a kiss on his cheek. "Go get 'em, Kitty."

Chat's cheeks burst into color again, but he gave his signature two finger salute as he propelled himself onto a nearby roof and out of sight.

With Chat gone, all the energy that had pent up in Marinette released. She spun around and let out a joyous laugh, completely unaffected by the possibility of anyone seeing her. Her happiness radiated out from her like a sunny aura.

She started the long walk back home, humming to herself the entire time. If she happened to give up on looking normal halfway through and got home skipping, well, that was her business.

* * *

Waiting for nighttime had never been more excruciating to Marinette. The rush of their kiss had carried her through the first hour, but after playing it over and over in her head she had started to get restless. She had already prepared some of Chat's favorite pastries on her desk, cleaned her room for the fifth time, brushed her hair into pigtails again, and switched outfits several times.

She settled on her pink pajamas when the sun left and the cold set in. According to the news, Dark Cupid had been defeated by the time she had made it home. She wondered what Chat did when he wasn't fighting crime or hanging out in her bedroom. She tried to imagine it in her head.

A knock on her roof door made her bolt up with excitement. She unlocked the latch and a familiar black suited hero landed on her bed. She closed the door to keep out the cold before sitting across from him.

Marinette and Chat Noir stared at each other until it became uncomfortable. Marinette's mind was racing with different thoughts on what to say. Should she comment on the kiss first? Should she act normal? Should she ask what the heck they were doing?

Chat seemed to be struggling with a similar internal monologue, but he recovered first.

"Hey."

Or maybe not.

"Hi." Marinette replied.

She squirmed. They both had gotten stuck in an embarrassment loop. One of them would get the courage to talk only to glance at the other's lips, then they'd blush, look down, and repeat. Another minute of awkward staring and she was fed up.

She moved forward and grabbed Chat's head, pecking him on the lips. The tension was immediately cut with both teenagers leaning into the kiss and relaxing. It was short, but Marinette felt like she had melted.

"Better?" She gave a cheesy grin.

"So much better." Chat responded before bringing her in for another kiss.

Marinette allowed herself to get caught up in the moment. They would alternate between long drawn out kisses and short pecks. She wanted this to never end, to never have to leave this moment where she was so unbelievably happy. Unfortunately she was aware that time wasn't going to stop because she wanted to have a make-out session.

"Chat." She spoke up between kisses.

"Hmm." He hummed out as he moved to take her lips again.

"Wait." She giggled as she pushed his face away.

He gave her puppy dog eyes before sitting up. "What is it, Purrincess?"

Marinette rolled her eyes at the nickname before settling in for a more serious conversation.

"We need to talk about this."

"You mean how great a kisser I am?" He gave her a toothy smirk.

"Settle down, Tom Cat. I mean we need to talk about what this is. Are we dating? Can we date?"

Chat's expression fell and became serious.

"I wasn't lying when I said Ladybug was right about superheroes not dating." He sighed and stared at his gloves.

"So do we just… stop? Never see each other again?" Marinette knew this was the nuclear option, but she couldn't imagine hanging out with Chat while pretending they were just friends.

Chat seemed similarly pained by this idea. He reached forward and grabbed her hands, clutching them in his own.

"No! I don't… I don't want to give this up." He stared at her, his emerald irises filled with conflicting emotions.

"Then what are we supposed to do? We can't date as civilians because then I'd know your identity. We can't be seen together when you're Chat because then we're in more danger." She took a second to let her frustration die down before continuing. "I don't want to be the reason you get hurt."

Chat reached out a hand and cradled her face gently. For a minute they just sat there, relishing the feeling of each other's touch.

"I shouldn't have come here." Chat's words hit her in her heart.

"Wha-"

"I mean before." He spoke before she could finish. "The minute I knew I was feeling something I should have stopped visiting. Heck, I shouldn't have been here at all." His ears flattened on top of his head as he looked at the comforter, ashamed of himself.

Marinette looked at her hands. Already they felt so cold without his. She wanted this to work. She looked at Chat Noir's eyes and made her decision.

She was already keeping so many secrets. What was one more?

"I should have never invited you to visit." Chat flinched.

He nodded, his face full of rejection and painful acceptance. He moved to leave, but Marinette grabbed his arm, holding him in place.

"But I did. Nothing we do is going to change that." She smiled and pulled him back down to the bed. "And nothing we do now is going to change how we feel. So let's not fight it."

Chat's ears perked up as he sat down again, fully facing Marinette. She smiled and grabbed his hand tightly, holding it to her chest. "Let's just continue the way things are now. You visit at night when no one is watching and we'll both continue our daily lives as if we're single."

Chat's eyes softened. "That's not really sustainable. How long do we hide ourselves? We might not find Hawkmoth for months or maybe years."

Marinette's smile faltered, but she did her best to hide her thoughts. She had forgotten Hawkmoth after the day's events. His presence in her life was a nuisance she was ready to be rid of.

"Then you'll just have to find him faster." She joked.

Chat chuckled and laid back on the bed, stretching his limbs out as he got comfortable. "Well then, Purrincess, you've got yourself a housecat for the foreseeable future."

Marinette laughed and fell on the bed as well. They spent the rest of the night talking about random topics. Favorite foods, future endeavors, silly fears, hamsters, they talked about whatever they could think of. They spoke in whispers for their ears only, punctuating their sentences with kisses. All too soon the time came for Chat Noir to leave.

"By the way, I forgot to tell you earlier. You look especially cute with your hair down." He gave a wink and one last kiss before disappearing into the starry sky.

Marinette sat on her bed and looked out at the moon. Her mind raced with the happy memories of the day, repeating Chat's words and touches on loop. She let out a happy sigh and sunk into her pillows.

Tonight she would just be Marinette, a girl in love. Tomorrow she will be normal Marinette, a girl with a thousand secrets. With new determination for the coming days, she fell into a restful sleep.

She wondered who would find Hawkmoth first, her or her Kitty.


End file.
